Set to be a $272bn industry by 2030, mobile gaming* is the dominant segment in the global video games sector. With the upcoming 5G revolution around the corner, new processors and improved display technologies are making mobile platforms more game ready than before. Every games company must develop expertise in this area to stay relevant, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company
GlobalData’s latest thematic report, ‘Thematic Research: Mobile Gaming’, reveals that the mobile gaming market will be worth $272bn by 2030, up from $98bn in 2020. The industry will record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11% over the ten years.
Rupantar Guha, Associate Project Manager for Thematic Research at GlobalData, comments: “Mobile gaming is already bigger than the console and PC gaming markets combined, contributing nearly 57% of global video games revenue in 2020. The growing maturity of streaming (supported by 5G), cloud gaming services and mobile esports – combined with the fact that mobile platforms are close to technical parity with PCs and consoles – means most gamers will embrace mobile gaming in the next few years. As a result, it will continue to account for the lion’s share of the global video games revenue over the next ten years*2.”
Guha continues: “Mobile gaming expertise is a must-have for all games companies. Traditional console and PC game publishers such as Activision Blizzard and EA are increasingly focused on the popular mobile gaming and its lucrative revenue opportunities. They compete with companies such as Tencent, Sea and Perfect World, which primarily focus on mobile gaming. Social media companes (e.g., ByteDance) and online advertisers (e.g., AppLovin) are also moving into mobile games publishing.
“5G will drive the next wave of innovation in mobile gaming. 5G networks allow games to be downloaded faster than current 4G networks and aid the development of mobile-based cloud gaming services and augmented reality (AR) games. With the ability to support one million devices within a single square kilometer, 5G will drive more users towards mobile gaming, especially multiplayer titles. This, in turn, will boost the growth of mobile esports.”
*In GlobalData’s report, ‘mobile gaming’ is defined as the playing of video games on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
*2 The ‘other video games’ category includes revenues generated by games played on PCs, consoles, handheld controllers, VR headsets and cloud gaming services. The revenue forecast does not include revenues from esports.
