The gaming industry’s worth this year is estimated to be at around 159.3 billion US dollars and it is expected that this number will grow up to 200 billion US dollars by 2023. Different technological advances have enabled gaming companies to have a wider reach and as more people play games, we can only expect that the industry will get bigger and better.
However, there seems to be one sector of the gaming industry that greatly impacts the growth of the gaming community and this is the mobile gaming sector. According to statistics, mobile gaming is the most popular platform for many users to play games. Around 48 percent of gamers are gaming with their mobile device already. This makes mobile gaming the biggest sector of the gaming industry.
What’s great about mobile gaming is that it allows people to play any games wherever they are. It’s become a gaming console that people can take anywhere. Whether they are on the bus, on the plane, or at the doctor’s office waiting for their appointment, they can easily play any games and even blackjack video games if they prefer real money gaming.
Nielsen’s SuperData Research has said that mobile games alone have generated 64.4 billion US dollars in 2019. That is already more than half of 60 percent of what the gaming industry has made in total last year. Mobile games like Call of Duty and Mario Kart appears to be the top runners for the mobile and portable gaming sector.
The Golden Casino News reported that when it comes to mobile gaming, Asia is the biggest market with China as the biggest revenue generator. Other countries that are part of the top 5 gaming markets include Japan, Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
It is also reported that there is potential market growth in South and Southeast Asia because more and more people in these countries are using smartphone devices. Overall, it is estimated that there are now around 4 billion smartphone users worldwide. This simply means that many people could turn to mobile gaming if they choose to.
Other factors that could help mobile gaming grow and even the gaming industry, in general, is the availability of tech advances like cloud gaming and 5G internet.
Cloud gaming is a subscription service that enables you to stream games. Think of Netflix and Spotify but for this, you stream games instead of TV shows, movies, and music. With cloud gaming, you get to use a device that can be connected to the internet to play console-quality games. Basically, this means that you can play a PC or PlayStation game with your smartphone.
Once that is widely available, you can expect that more people will turn to their mobile devices when it comes to gaming. The majority of people would still rather spend money on a smartphone device instead of gaming consoles. This is because a smartphone still has more functionalities outside gaming.
Cloud gaming, however, won’t be successful without a powerful connection and this is where the availability of a 5G connection can be very beneficial to gamers. A 5G connection is not just great for cloud gaming but it can also improve the gaming experience of mobile users. Games on smartphones would then run smoother.
Quentin Staes-Polet, the general manager for Epic Games Southeast Asia and India talked about mobile gaming. Staes-Polet said, “It’s just a matter of time before the experience on the phone, with additional goggles or devices, catches up, and [the device] doesn’t really matter.”
Plenty of mobile games are free-to-download and this is what makes mobile users more interested in gaming. Plenty of mobile games are also known for in-app purchases. While casual gamers don’t usually spend money on games, there are mobile gamers that would splurge money on games like Call of Duty Mobile and Mobile Legends for crates.
Another sector that affects the growth of mobile gaming is eSports. When it comes to this, it is still dominated by the PC or computer industry, but there are now many mobile game tournaments that are now quickly becoming popular. Games like Call of Duty Mobile and League of Legends: Wild Rift are now extremely popular to mobile users.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds or PUBG is also popular when it comes to mobile esports tournaments. Last year’s PUBG tournament has a pool prize of 2.5 million US dollars for the entire year. This shows how serious mobile eSports is and people are really going for it.
