About 3 billion global players expected by end 2021 and revenue of >$200 billion by 2023.
BCG report (Dec’21) notes
This revenue is “almost +8% annual growth from $138 billion in 2018 and more than the combined annual worldwide box office earnings, music streaming and album sales, and take of the top five wealthiest sports leagues."
Globally, number of gamers grew 6% CAGR, and was accelerated with the pandemic lockdown.
BCG survey of 10,000 people in 10 countries found broad range of gamer demographic:
“GENDER: Respondents identifying as gamers are fairly evenly split – 57% were male, 43% female
AGE: 14% were below the age of 19, another 14% between 19 and 24, 35% between 25 and 35 years of age, and another 37% between 36 and 50.
EMPLOYMENT: 77% indicated some form of employment. Of those, ~60% reported spending at least US$20 on additional in-game features over the last 12 months, with ~25% spending US$50 or more” (excludes cost of buying a game, or any associated hardware)
“The gaming market has significantly outperformed the S&P 500 since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the US, gamers increased their spending on gaming by +75% over the course of the pandemic”
The size and diversity of the gaming population means a one size fits all approach won’t work, and there are lots of opportunities to compete (play your game!) in this growth arena.