Many still believe that a PS4 or an Xbox is where you need to be if you’re developing a game. To be fair, it’s been that way for a while now, and it doesn’t seem too long ago that stores on the high street were brimming with teenagers queueing for a copy of the very latest release.
Sure, now don’t get me wrong, you’ll still find Call of Duty or Red Dead Redemption II pulling in a few crowds, but there’s less “brick and mortar” stores now. Console gamers are either ordering games online or they’re downloading them directly to their machines.
Trouble is, for the developers, it’s often a single “hit”. They receive revenue for each game sold, so in order to get more profit they need to make a brand new game oe re-do the game they’ve just released.
With games like Fortnite re-writing the traditional console revenue streams, there’s been a constant rise in the revenue earned from mobile platforms instead. The year 2019 has delivered a significant profit for the gaming industry all over the world. Stats show that the global video games market generated a massive $83 (nearly £64) billion income this year. This is projected to rise to $95.3 (£72.5) billion by 2024. Mobile games now represent the most substantial segment of the entire video games market – generating $49 (£37.2) billion in revenue.
In 2019 the mobile gaming industry generated around 60 percent of the worldwide video games revenue. With $16.9 (£12.86) billion profit, online games were the second-largest market segment. The third most lucrative revenue source was download games, which generated a $15.1 (£11.49) billion income.
The statistics indicate that the mobile gaming industry, including names such as My Mobi Casino, will continue to generate the most significant part of the video games market revenue in the years to come. With an annual growth rate of 2.9%, the global mobile games market is forecast to reach a $56.6 (£43) billion value by 2024.
Most of the gaming revenue comes from China, followed by the US, Japan, South Korea and the UK. There’s an ever-growing amount of gamers too, and research suggests that there will be 1.7 billion people playing by 2024. Currently this number sits at 1.36 billion with 36 percent aged between 25 and 36 years old.
We’re likely to see more and more games arriving on our smartphones soon, with a big jump in graphics and overall quality too. The developers of traditional console games are keen to get their share of micropayments, a predictable revenue stream and – perhaps most importantly – access to far more potential customers.