The gaming industry had an amazing year of growth in 2020 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. With lockdowns enforced more or less on a global scale, games became an even more popular form of entertainment than they already were, leading companies to register record player numbers and revenues.
However, the lockdowns are being lifted as vaccination goes forward in many countries. Consumers will thus experience a short-term turn to other forms of entertainment, such as theaters, which are slowly reopening globally.
This and other factors like the global shortage of chips and some delays of triple-A titles led game analyst firm Newzoo to model a slight shrinkage of revenues for the gaming industry this year. The analysts expect the global games market to decline by 1.1% on a year-over-year basis, generating $175.8 billion of revenues, whereas 2020 reached $177.8 billion thanks to its massive 23.1% yearly growth over 2019.
There's no cause to worry, though. This is still higher than the pre-pandemic prediction of $174.2 billion for 2021, and Newzoo also expects growth to resume up to $204.6 billion in 2023, up from the original forecast of $200.8 billion for that year. The analysts modeled a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 7.2% between 2019 and 2023.
With regards to 2021, most platforms will register a decline. The steepest will be experienced by consoles, which should reach $49.2 billion of revenues, -8.9% compared to 2020. The PC gaming market is also expected to decrease down to $35.9 billion, -1.7% compared to last year.
On the other hand, mobile continues its unabated growth even in this 'corrective year'. It'll be worth $90.7 billion in 2021, according to Newzoo, with a 4.4% increase over 2020. This year, mobile game revenues will therefore account for over half (52%) of the total gaming industry revenues.
For next year, though, Newzoo analysts anticipate that the console market may take the crown of the fastest-growing sector, with more consoles available for purchase and more titles to play following 2021's many delays.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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