The global gaming industry today is huge. It’s estimated to be worth more than $76 billion and forecasts indicate it will be valued at more than $86 billion in 2016.
When you consider there are only 2.5 billion of the planet’s inhabitants online, there’s a huge amount of potential for further growth in gaming. For example, while the European games market is valued at nearly $20 billion, the games industry in India increased by 16% in 2012, to $227 million. As different regions catch-up in access to broadband, so will the gaming population will increase.
The demographics of gamers are changing – gaming is no longer a male-dominated world. More and more women are now playing games. In the US in 2012, 42% of gamers were female; that figure has now increased to 47%. There’s also been an increase in older gamers and 29% of gamers are aged 50 or more.
Gaming is no longer a loner activity. The stereotypical image of a gamer used to be a single guy in a heavy metal T-shirt sitting in a darkened room playing video games by himself. But now gamers have grown-up and had kids of their own, so you get gamer families.
According to the Entertainment Software Association a third of parents play games with their kids once a week or more, and more than half of parents play games with their children at least once a month. Children will play with friends (40%) and their parents (16%) and 17% of gamers play with their partner or another family member (34%).
Gaming can take you places. There’s no longer the need to be stuck at home with your console if you want to game. With the increase of social, casual and casino games that can be played on a mobile device, gamers are free to roam. Now, if you look at any of the major casino sites like Royal Vegas, 32Red or Jackpot City, you’ll see they have a wide selection of mobile-compatible games.
If you click here to visit 32Red online casino you can play blackjack, roulette and baccarat on the move, as well as games like keno and scratch and a wide variety of slots. In the States, there’s 101% mobile penetration, meaning that for each American, there’s at least one mobile phone. And over 48 million people are already playing games on their smartphone or another mobile device.
In the UK, there are more than 20 million mobile gamers, according to a comScore survey from 2013. Japan and China have the highest numbers of people playing on iPhones and iPad. These numbers are set to increase over the time as 91% of people on earth own a mobile, and 56% have a smartphone. And half of all mobile phone users rely on their mobile as a primary source for the internet.
Gaming is big business. Games sales accounted for $24 billion in 2013 and movie box office sales pale in comparison at $10 billion. Today, an ever-increasing amount of gaming takes up the time that people used to spend watching TV and films.
Variety is the spice of life. One major reason for the increase in gaming is the fact that many games are now free to play. When you can play a game for free (or at least trial it for free) why would you limit yourself to playing only one or two games?
There’s also the fact that gaming is changing all the time. Multi-player games can now be enjoyed on mobiles and more technological developments will always be just around the corner. With 46% of teens now playing on their mobiles, the future of gaming is looking distinctly portable, especially given the fact that there are 6.5 billion mobile subscribers around the globe.
While many of those phone subscribers don’t currently have the internet on their phones in areas like Africa, Central America and South Asia, this will soon change, meaning an ever-growing potential market for online and mobile gaming.