Video Game Industry Statistics, Trends and Data In 2023

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The Video Gaming Industry was estimated to be worth $178.73 Billion in 2021, which is an increase of 14.4% from 2020.

This is a marked difference from what was predicted in 2016, forecasting a total worth of $90.07 Billion for the same period – a huge 76.8% difference between the two figures demonstrating that we could see a further acceleration in growth.

Previous forecasts were estimating the video gaming industry to be worth $268 Billion by 2025.

Gaming remains a mainstream hobby and the global pandemic only added to that fire. Since those dark days, global video game industry revenues were set to exceed 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. The rate at which we are seeing the gaming industry boom each year could mean the estimate above is actually pretty modest.

Asia leads the way in terms of the volume of gamers. In a recent study by DFC Intelligence in August 2021, they found that Asia accounted for 1.48 billion gamers out of a total of 3.2 billion gamers worldwide. Put another way 45% of gamers are based in Asia with gamers based in Europe taking place at 22% (or 715 million) of the total. 

Sources: Statista, NewZoo, Juniper Research 2021,  Statista / DFC Intelligence; 2021

Market Value

Value of Video Games Industry

Value by Region

Value of Video Games Industry By Region

Growth in Gamers by Year

Number of Gamers by Year

Gamers by Region

Percentage of Total Worldwide Gamers By Region 2021

Global Games Market

0 Billion Players

2.9 Billion Players helped the Global Games Market Generate $178.37 Billion in 2021

Newzoo Insights 2021

Asia Pacific is estimated to reach

$ 0 Billion
in 2025

Asia Pacific currently holds the top spot for video game revenue. China is expected to reach 48,820M in 2021.

Statista, 2021

Tencent Reached

$ 0 Billion
in Revenue, 2021

Tencent reported a revenue growth of over 13% over the same quarter of 2020, reaching a revenue of $22 Billion in 2021.

Tencent & Statista, 2021

More than

0 %
of industry revenue comes from free-to-play games

More than 85% of total video game industry revenue comes from free-to-play games

Fortunly, 2020

There are more than

0 Billion
Gamers Worldwide

A recent study is forecasting more than 3.2 billion video gamers globally by 2023

Statista, 2021

The video games market is worth

$ 0 Billion
in 2021

The video games market is worth $178.37 Billion in 2021, up from $159.3 billion in 2020

Statista, 2021

COVID-19

We explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the gaming markets.

2021 Update

In a survey conducted by Forbes, half of the teachers in the UK and US turned to gaming to teach their students online during the pandemic (COVID-19), with a result of 91% claiming it helped.

2021 Update

The video game and eSports industries are two of the few sectors to experience a boom as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

2021 Update

Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold 5 Million digital copies within a month, selling more in a month than any other console game in history.

2021 Update

63% increase in video game sales and a like-for-like increase of 44% due to people turning to video games during the pandemic.

2021 Update

Digital music, games and Video-on-Demand significantly benefited from the (COVID-19) lockdown, with game revenue rising by 12% post-lockdown.

Regions

This section explores all the top regional gaming statistics.

2021 Update

The North American gaming market is predicted to estimate $80.9 Billion US dollars annually in 2025, up from the $56.8 Billion US dollars in 2021.

2021 Update

Currently, industry figures estimate that there are roughly 175 Million digital gamers in the US.

2021 Update

China ($40+ Billion revenue) ranks first for the Biggest Gaming Markets Worldwide, with the US ($36+ Billion revenue) coming in second.

2021 Update

A survey based on ‘How gamers and non-gamers describe video games’: Worldwide said “Fun” (49%). China said “Relaxing” (More than 50%) whilst “Addictive” stood at 37%.

2021 Update

In 2021, the UK was the biggest market among the EU 5 with revenues of $6.6 Billion.

2021 Update

Gaming accounts for 21% of our respondents’ entertainment leisure time in the U.S.—only slightly behind broadcast television.

2021 Update

The U.S. is one of the biggest games markets in the world. Last year, there were 190 million gamers in the U.S. who generated game revenues of $42.1 billion.

2020 Update

The number of gamers who say they are playing video games more now due to the COVID-19 pandemic increased between March 23 – June 3rd 2020 by 46% in the U.S., followed by 41% in France, 28% in the U.K. and 23% in Germany.

Nielsen, 2020
2020 Update

In 2018 an estimated 66% of the general population in the USA were gamers.

Nielsen, 2020
2020 Update

Japan’s market has more than 70 million gaming players. The value of the gaming market in Japan is expected to reach JPY 1.55 trillion in 2024 from JPY 1.4 trillion in 2017.

Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, 2020

DLC market

Over the last decade, we have seen a clear upwards trend in sales of DLC in video games.

In fact, the DLC market value increased by 121% between 2010 – 2017, and this trend is predicted to continue to rise. 

This has been further illustrated by the ongoing rise of gamers putting money into microtransactions, with almost 50% of gamers having done this in 2021.

As the DLC market share rises, the package market falls alongside it; in 2011 it took a solid 80% of market share, falling to just 46% in 2017 and continuing to fall ever since. 

Sources: Capcom, The ESA, Statista

2021 Update
Global digital games industry revenue 2020 by category

With wide adoption of smartphones and mobile internet worldwide, global mobile gaming revenues nearly reached 74 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, with the F2P (free-to-play) PC games coming in second with 22.7 billion U.S. dollars

SuperData Research; Statista January 2021
2021 Update
Video game consumer market value worldwide from 2011 to 2023 by distribution type

The packaged market value in 2018 amounted to 10.9 billion U.S. dollars, down from 11.2 billion a year earlier. While the DLC Market is forecasted to be worth $52.2 Billion by 2023

2021 Update

Digital accounted for over 60 percent of the console gaming market worldwide in 2020. Total console gaming market sales amounted to 42.9 billion U.S. dollars with digital generating 30.3 billion U.S. dollars and packaged sales accumulating 12.6 billion U.S. dollars in revenues.

2021 Update

In 2021, global video game revenue is set to only grow by 0.9% compared to the previous year, and is predicted to decline in coming years. This decline is offset by the increase in DLC purchases.

2021 Update

CD Projekt generated the majority of revenue from digital sales at 91%. EA comes in second with 87.7%.

2021 Update

A survey in the 4th quarter of 2020 found that in-game currency for additional game content was the most popular type of DLC purchases.

2021 Update

A survey was done in the 4th quarter of 2020, 27 of console gamers who responded said they had purchased DLC for a game, whilst only 20 and 16 percent of PC and mobile gamers claimed the same.

2020 Update
Newzoo, 2020
2020 Update
The Entertainment Software Association, 2020
2020 Update
Fortunly, 2020
2020 Update
Superdata, 2019
2020 Update
Capcom Annual Report, 2019
2018 Update
2018 Update
2018 Update
2018 Update
2018 Update

Platforms

PC is still the most popular platform for game developers with 56% developing games for the platform in 2020.

When it comes to consoles, Sony is still managing to beat Microsoft in terms of game development focus with 25% of developers focusing on the PS4 over 23% on the Xbox One.

This trend continues when we look at next-gen consoles with 11% working on PS5 games over 9% working on Xbox Series X.

Despite PC gaming coming top for developers, Mobile gaming is the most popular platform for users with 48% of players now regularly engaging in mobile gaming, and console gaming outperforming PC gaming in terms of the global games market.
Sources: NewZoo, GDC

2021 Update
Which platforms are game developers developing games for worldwide in 2021

Which platforms are game developers developing games for?

Statista, 2021
2021 Update

In a survey during early 2021, 21 percent of game developers reported that 100% of their revenue was generated via Steam.

2021 Update

In 2021 survey, 27% of the responding game developers worldwide said they were working on developing games for the Oculus Quest headset.

2021 Update

Early 2021, game developers focused solely on PC video game development, whilst mobile came second and third.

2021 Update

The game consoles computer graphics hardware was worth $12 Billion US dollars in 2020. The forecast suggests that it will rise to over $17 Billion US dollars by 2022.

2021 Update

“Console wars” was originally used to describe the rivalry between Nintendo and Sega between the 1980’s and 1990’s. Now, it refers to the rivalry between PlayStation and Xbox brands. Nintendo made it’s way back in the the equation with it’s hybrid console, Nintendo Switch.

2021 Update

The gaming platform Steam hit a record of 26.85 Million concurrent users in May 2021.

2020 Update
Statista, 2020
2020 Update
Statista, 2020
2020 Update
(Limelight, 2019)
2020 Update
Limelight, 2019
2020 Update
Statcounter, 2020
2020 Update
Newzoo, 2020
2020 Update
Newzoo, 2020
2020 Update
Newzoo, 2020
2018 Update
2018 Update
2018 Update
2018 Update
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2018 Update
2018 Update

Best Games

If you’re looking for the best game ever made, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time still holds the title according to Metacritic having achieved a near-perfect score of 99/100, although Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2, GTA 5, and SoulCalibur all give it a run for its money. In 2020 Persona 5 Royal took the best game of year, with a 95/100.

When we look at a genre breakdown of video game sales, we can see that Action games hold the top spot with a 26.9% market share followed by Shooters at 20.9%, and Role-playing games at 11.3%.

When it comes to the best-selling games of all time, the Pokemon franchise is still ruling the charts with an impressive total sales figure in excess of $90 Billion. Everyone’s favorite plumber comes in second with a much lower $30.25 Billion followed by Call of Duty with $17 Billion.
Sources: TitleMax,Statista, ESA, Metacriti

2022 Update
Most popular game genres in the US 2021

Genre breakdown of video game sales in the US (2021)

Statista, ESA 2021
2022 Update
Biggest selling video game franchises worldwide 2021

Biggest selling video game franchises of all time

Statista, 2021
2021 Update

Top games played in the U.S

According to the recent NewZoo Study looking into insights of U.S. gamers, they found the following franchises the most popular in the last six monhts:

  • Candy Crush (39%)
  • Call of Duty (36%)
  • Mario (35%)
  • Minecraft (32%)
  • Fortnite (32%)
2018 Update

27.5% of video games sold in United States in 2016 were shooter games. (Entertainment Software Association, 2017)

2018 Update

52% of core PC gamers in China are playing PUBG. (Newzoo, 2018)

2021 Update

The most searched and favoured game on Youtube is Minecraft at 201 Billion views, Roblox is second with 75 Billion views.

2021 Update

Shooter and action adventure games were ranked as the top gaming genres of 2020 across all age groups.

2021 Update

The most searched games worldwide in 2021 were Fifa 22 and New World, measured by average monthly search volume.

2022 Update

As of December 2021, Tetris is the best-selling game franchise worldwide with 496.4 million unit sales worldwide.

2021 Update

GTA 5 was released in 2013 and stands as the best-selling game of all time on Xbox One, it was published by Rockstar and has sold over 8.7 million copies worldwide as of 2020.

2021 Update

With the huge success of the Nintendo Wii console, Wii Sports is the all-time best-selling console game.

2022 Update

Fortnite is the most-streamed game on Twitch with 4.66 million hours streamed as of January 2022

2022 Update

League of Legends is the most-watched game on Twitch with 42.55 billion viewers as of July 2021.

2020 Update
Newzoo, 2020
2020 Update
Newzoo, 2020
2020 Update
Nielsen, 2020
2020 Update
ResearchAndMarkets.com, 2020
2020 Update
Statista, 2020
2020 Update
Entertainment Software Association, 2019
2020 Update
VideoGamesChronicle, 2020
2020 Update
Metacritic, 2020
2020 Update
Metacritic, 2020
2018 Update
2018 Update
2018 Update
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2018 Update
2018 Update

Companies

2021 Update

In the US, Microsoft dominated the Gaming Networks market with 50% of the market share in 2021.

2021 Update

In 2021, Netmarble had the biggest estimated 2021 Enterprise Value/EBITDA multiple with 25.0x, Ubisoft Entertainment had the lowest Enterprise Value to EBITDA multiple.

2021 Update

In 2020, Tencent’s most downloaded app was PUBG at an astonishing 223.31 Million downloads, Honor of Kings coming second with 24.92 Million downloads.

2021 Update

In 2021, Activision Blizzard has a net income of 639 Million US dollars and the company reported 2.07 Billion US dollars in revenue.

2021 Update

In 2020, Nintendo’s online revenue started to overtake their retail software revenue. By the end of March 2021, downloadable versions of packaged games accounted for 59.3% of Nintendo’s digital gaming sales.

2021 Update

In 2020, Tencent Holding’s online games grossed around 24 billion dollars. This was a vast increase compared to 2010 and made up 32% of the Chinese tech giant’s annual revenue.

2021 Update

Fifa is the top franchise published by the company Electronic Arts (EA). Fifa is published annually

2021 Update

Despite the PS5 being released in November 2020, software sales are predicted to take off from 2022, this is due to the lack of availability and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

2021 Update

Electronic Arts (US) is the leading gaming company worldwide by LTM EV/EBITDA

In 2021 they achieved 33.1x in the last twelve months.

More Industry & Companies Statistics