What does the Gaming Industry look like in 2022

The unstoppable growth of gaming globally is set to reach unprecedented levels in 2022. According to a recent Newzoo study on the sector, mobile gaming will generate an estimated $91.4 billion in revenue this year, accounting for almost 45% of the total Gaming Industry. This new scenario represents a unique opportunity for mobile operators in all territories to leverage this revenue stream and build user loyalty. In this regard, the expertise offered by Digital Virgo, both for telcos and premium merchants, is key to the expansion of this business line.
man plays videogame on his mobile phone

Videogames are already the main pastime, above social networks or streaming series/movies, for Gen Alpha 1 . According to the previously mentioned Newzoo study on the Gaming Industry, Global Games Market Report, 42% of this generation relates to videogames in all their dimensions, playing games, watching streams, podcasts or attending face-to-face events.

Gaming has expanded its reach across an entire ecosystem enabling new forms of interaction for consumers, who no longer just play games, but seek a more complete experience that embraces new possibilities for engaging with videogames.

As a result, the consumption of gaming streams increased by more than 69% in the first quarter of 2022, compared to the same period in 2020 2 . On Twitch alone, the favourite platform for viewers of this type of content, a total of 229 million hours of streams were registered in the first quarter of 2022 3.

chart insights gen alpha
Source: Newzoo Consumer Insights Games & Esports 2022 (How Consumers are Engaging with Games in 2022)

Gaming: +200 Billion Dollars worth Industry

Revenue growth forecasts for 2022 are fully in line with the increasing importance of videogames in people’s daily lives, especially young people. Data from Newzoo’s study points to an annual growth compared to 2021 of more than 5%, exceeding $200 billion in total. It is estimated that approximately half of Generation Alpha, Generation Z and Millennial gamers spend money on video games 1.

Out of the $200 billion total of the Gaming Industry, mobile gaming (smartphones) is forecast to generate approximately $91.4 billion in annual revenue, representing almost 45% of the market. The revenue generated by mobile phones is greater than that of PCs and consoles combined, a trend that is taking hold and indicates the unstoppable advance of these devices as the main gaming platform and the most established way for telcos and videogame developers to expand their business.

In terms of revenues by region, Asia-Pacific continues to be the highest revenue-generating territory, while Africa and Latin America experienced the strongest year-on-year growth of 12.9% and 10% respectively.

chart gaming industry market 2022
Source: Newzoo Global Games Market Report

According to Newzoo, emerging markets in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa will be the largest contributors to Mobile Gaming growth by 2022, thanks to increased access to gaming and devices (smartphones), improvements in mobile internet and infrastructure, and more accessible and secure payment options, such as Direct Carrier Billing (DCB).

Frictionless Payments for an ever-expanding Audience

As well as revenue, the number of gamers worldwide is also set to rise sharply, to over three billion by the end of the year 1. With this growth in users of videogames and related platforms, the opportunities for developers and mobile operators to generate business through paid subscriptions or in-game payments will increase. Making these transactions as frictionless, secure and accessible as possible for users will be one of the big keys to this.

Mobile payment options, such as Direct Carrier Billing, meet all these requirements and are of great interest for both merchants and mobile operators. This online mobile payment method allows users to make purchases directly charged to their mobile phone bill or prepaid SIM card. DCB works across all mobile devices and its accessible to any user having a subscription or prepaid plan with a telecom operator. This makes it the best payment method for mobile gaming.

Digital Virgo, as one of the world’s leading providers of mobile payment via Carrier Billing solutions, positions itself as the perfect partner for telcos and merchants, offering the implementation of powerful monetisation ecosystems and addressing mobile payment in its entirety: transactional but also in terms of customer journey.

Want to know more about our gaming ecosystem? Follow the link.

Contact our experts to help you expand your business through DCB here.

Sources

1 How Consumers Are Engaging with Games in 2022 (Newzoo’s Consumer Insights Games & Esports 2022)

2 www.streamhatchet.com/2022/04/27/video-game-live-streaming-trends-q1-2022-report/

3 www.statista.com/statistics/1030809/hours-streamed-streamlabs-platform/

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