Newzoo rolled out 2019 Global Games Market Report last week. Based on the report’s estimates, there are 2.5 billion game enthusiasts in the world, encompassing all kinds of gaming behavior from playing to owning the gaming tech, to simply viewing. This audience will spend $152.1 billion on games in 2019, which constitutes +9.6% year on year growth.
Console market will grow to $47.9 billion in 2019, making it the fastest-growing segment. This is the second year in a row that console market will grow faster than mobile. The slowdown in mobile is due to new licensing rules in China and the lack of new global hits.
Nevertheless, mobile continues to generate more profits than console and PC. In 2019, mobile users will spend $68.5 billion on mobile games, which accounts for 45% of the global games market.
PC gaming will only bring in $35.7 billion in revenue, which leaves it behind mobile and console both in terms of the size and the growth rate. However, PC remains the main driver of innovations in the industry.
2019 will see the U.S. replace China at the top of the world’s biggest gaming economies. The U.S. consumers, mostly console players, will spend $36.9 billion on games. However, Newzoo analysists say that China will reclaim the top spot next year.
The report also forecasts further growth for games market. It is expected to reach $196.0 by 2022. Nearly half of it ($95.4 billion) will come from mobile, predominantly smartphone games. The growth of the mobile segment will slow down in mature economies such as North America, Western Europe, and Japan. But growth in mobile will again outpace other segments due to contributions from emerging markets like Southeast Asia, India, and Middle East, and North Africa. Plus, mobile hardware and infrastructure will continue to improve.
According to the report, in 2022, console segment will generate $61.1 billion in revenue, while PC gaming will reach $39.5 billion.