Young socialising gamers to boost gaming revenue a third by 2028

The sector's revenue is projected to hit about $257 billion in 2028, says Bain & Company study

Interoperability between devices is high on gamers' preferences, as it allows them to continue where they left off anywhere, through the cloud. Getty Images

The global gaming industry's revenue is expected to jump by nearly a third through 2028, driven by a younger demographic that increasingly uses gaming environments for more activities other than playing, a new study from Bain and Company has shown.

Revenue in the sector is projected to hit about $257 billion in 2028 – up more than 31 per cent from an estimated $196 billion in 2023 – the Boston-based consultancy said in its annual gaming report on Friday.

This will be underpinned by increased interaction within gaming applications, particularly by using other tools such as socialising, shopping and consuming other media, most notably videos, it said.

Interoperability between devices – smartphones, tablets, laptops and computers – is also high on gamers' preferences, as it allows them to play and continue where they left off anywhere through the cloud.

“Gamers’ preference for immersive games – that is, those with expansive virtual environments, where players can socialise and play an active role in generating content – was accelerated by pandemic lockdowns, and it has continued to grow in the years since,” analysts at Bain wrote in the report.

Around a third of gamers surveyed by Bain said immersive games were their top choice, keeping them more engaged as they spend about one and a half hours more per week on them compared with non-immersive gamers, the study said.

For players younger than 18, the percentage is closer to 50 per cent, as they consider the likes of Roblox and Fortnite a social community, similar to the way adults view Facebook or WhatsApp.

Immersive gamers also said they spend about one-third of that time on things other than gameplay, including socialising, creating and shopping, it added.

This translates into potentially more spending: players who engage in at least three activities other than gameplay spend about five times more per hour – about $0.80 – than gamers who solely play, Bain said.

Bain expects this trend to sustain its momentum through the next few years, as immersive gaming environments transform into the centre of social and entertainment activity for a group of consumers who will enter adulthood over the next few years.

“The combination of these trends suggests that this heightened engagement among young gamers represents more than just kids having more time for games,” the analysts said.

Gaming has become a big business globally, with new technology providing both an opportunity to reach a wider audience and develop new titles to cater to consumer demand.

Bain's survey covered more than 5,000 individuals across specific countries – the UAE, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, the UK and the US.

The consultancy picked the six countries to identify key themes that game developers and publishers, device makers and marketplace operators “should understand in order to see where the industry and its consumer audience are moving”.

Region-specific data, specifically for the Middle East, key European markets and, in particular, China, were unavailable.

China, the world's second-largest economy, is one of the top three gaming markets alongside Japan and the US, and is home to the biggest gaming company by revenue, Tencent.

In terms of the number of gamers, the country also leads the Asia-Pacific that has about 1.8 billion gamers, which is more than half of the global total of 3.4 billion, latest data from industry tracker Newzoo shows. The Middle East and Africa region is second with around 559 million.

Still, video game companies have been aggressive to meet evolving consumer requirements and demands, implementing bigger and more complex operations to widen their geographical footprint.

Eight of the top gaming companies employ people in around 28 per cent more countries than they did a decade ago, which is an average increase of 13 countries each, Bain said, based on 12 game studios operating in about 100 countries.

These companies “have no choice but to revamp their operating models – and quickly”, Bain analysts said.

“Gaming companies will need to redefine their relationships with customers, competitors and the various other players that make up the video game industry landscape.”