Games Market Will Generate $184.4 Billion in 2022, Down -4.3% Year On Year

In the past decade or so, the gaming industry has become one of the biggest money-makers on the planet. Consoles, video games, and everything else related to the industry have all become a huge part of popular culture.

The gaming market has become more valuable than some heavy hitters like the film and music industry with a worth of $192.7 billion.

Everyone has been surprised by the exponential growth gaming has seen in the recent past. The medium has become so valuable that it is worth more than worldwide box office, music streaming, NBA and NFL combined. A lot of things are responsible for making the gaming giant it is today and it continues to grow.

With how live-service games like Fortnite and streaming have increased in the past few years, this is no surprise. Playing video games is becoming as common as watching movies. However, even the biggest and most successful industries on this planet can have a small decline.

Major Takeaways:

• The gaming industry will see a 4.3% decline in 2022 and will be worth $184.4 billion.
• This decline has not affected PC gaming while Asia and China are the biggest markets in gaming.
• The future of the industry is positive as a 3.5% increase is in the year-on-year prediction till 2025.

The gaming market is going to decline by 4.3% in 2022 according to a new report from Newzoo. As a result, the gaming industry will be worth $184.4 billion at the end of this year. However, the future of the gaming market is still showing a positive trend. 

Following record profits and extraordinary growth in the last 2 years, this will be a corrective year for the market. According to Newzoo however, this will be the only corrective year for the industry. The industry made a lot more than initial forecasts in 2020 and 2021, so this decline is the exception.

PC gaming is the only market that held up this year with a 0.5% growth from last year. This is because a year with fewer games like 2022 doesn’t affect PC as the most played games here have been out for years. In China and Japan, the PC market is growing, with its size increasing two times in the last three years in Japan. 

Surprisingly, the mobile gaming market saw a 6.4% decline from last year. The market fell off quite hard in the 3rd quarter after a strong first half which kept up with the initial strong projections. A lesser ability to spend due to the economic downturn affected mobile more than PC.

Even with a year-on-year decline of 5.6% in 2022, the Asia-Pacific market remains the biggest region for gaming revenue. A big reason for this is the decline of mobile hits like PUBG and no replacements performing up to expectations. China is the single largest gaming market in the world, alone generating $45.8 billion.

New players are entering Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa regions so the market will grow there. Mobile gaming is playing a huge role in this new player traffic. North America(5.1% decline) and Europe(3.5% decline) are seeing a decline, however, with consoles selling slowly for two years in a row.

Saying all of that, the gaming industry has a bright future after two years of unsustainable revenue. An increase of 3.4% is expected for the next 3 years taking the gaming market to $211.2 billion in 2025. The increasing sales of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are cited as a big reason by Newzoo.

With a new Nintendo device on the way too, the number of players will also increase. Around the globe, gaming is becoming an essential part of life for millions of people. Hence, the gaming industry is only going to have more success in the upcoming years.