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Mobile Games will generate $77.2 Billion in 2020 forecasts Newzoo

A lot of things have been said and discussed for this current uncertain situation the world is witnessing. The loss of livelihood opportunities for most people is one of the major concerns that has also grappled the world economy. But there is one industry which has shown exceptional growth, even in these tough times and that is the video gaming industry. A recent report from market researcher Newzoo forecasts that the Mobile Games will generate a whopping $77.2 billion in 2020. That is a growth of 13.3% year-on-year. They have also forecasted that the global games market will generate revenues of $159.3 billion in 2020 which corresponds to year-on-year growth of 9.3%. That’s way up!

What else the report projects

Of the 2.7 billion total gamers projected to play in 2020, 2.6 billion will play on mobile devices, according to the analysis. This can be evident from the way Hyper-Casual games have become popular around the globe. Earlier, we covered the latest report by Sensor Tower Store Intelligence, which states that of the 2.1 billion installs amassed by the 20 most downloaded games released in 2019. 77.6 percent were from the games belonging to the hyper-casual genre, this number was 68%, the year before. This number is expected to grow further in 2020, as people are home quarantined due to COVID-19. And this results in more players turning to mobile gaming.

Mobile Games will generate $77.2 Billion in 2020 forecasts Newzoo
Source: Newzoo

We also covered a report by Game Analytics as Mobile playtime increased by 62%, with the in-app purchases (IAP) up by around 30% in Q1 of 2020. The above data shows a change can be witnessed in consumer behavior and consumer spending. People have adopted mobile gaming as a crucial part of their life during the coronavirus (COVID-19) induced shutdown. Also, there has been an exponential increase in eSports Championship around the globe. The recent of which is PUBG Mobile India Series (PMIS) 2020 with a prize pool of $65,500 (INR 50 Lakh). And COD Mobile World Championship 2020 with a prize pool of more than $1 million.

Statista report forecasts the growth of esports

A report from Statista suggests that by 2023, there are expected to be almost 300 million frequent viewers of eSports worldwide. It will be a vast increment from 173 million in 2018. If we talk about data from the United States, then there were an estimated 25.7 million eSports viewers in 2018. It is projected to grow to 46 million by 2023. Also, another report from Newzoo suggests that the global esports revenues will cross $1 billion in 2020. All these data show the number of mobile gamers worldwide along with the IAP will continue to increase.

Global Games Market forecast
Source: Newzoo

Mobile will have more growth than both PC and console gaming

Gone are the days when PC and console gaming used to rule over the gaming market. As the report also suggests that the current trends show that mobile gaming will witness more growth compared to both PC and console gaming. There can be various reasons associated with it.

  • Lowest entry barrier: According to Statista, the number of smartphone users worldwide is more than three billion. And this is forecast to further grow by several hundred million in the next few years. This results in the lowest entry barrier in mobile gaming.
  • Free-to-play game: Most of the mobile games are free-to-play and that’s why new players are joining every second.
  • No PC cafes available: As the world has become standstill due to the pandemic, all the PC cafes have been shut down. Cafes are used by many in developing countries, closure of which has resulted in people turning to mobile gaming.
  • The Mobile development process is less complex: The mobile game developers have been very quick is launching new titles as the developing phase is less complex than PC. Therefore, less likely to suffer delays from COVID-19-related disruption.

Newzoo also projects the industry to surpass $200 billion in revenue in 2023. Also, almost half of the consumer spending on games will come from the U.S. and China in 2020 across all the segments like PC, console, and mobile. The only sector within the gaming industry expected to lose revenue is in browser-based gaming because of delays in the development phase.

What after the situation normalizes?

As some of the countries are on the verge of partially lifting the lockdown to take care of their economic downfall. It’s going to be a challenging task for game companies to retain newer players.


If you find this article helpful then make sure to follow GamingonPhone on Twitterand Instagram for more gaming news. And if you are looking for a group of mobile gamers to hang out, jump into our Discord server today.

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Rosem

2.6 Billion mobile gamers, I am not alone 😀

Tousif

Haha, ofcourse not! We are here as well 🙂

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