Commentary

Mobile Driving Gaming Growth

While the broader gaming industry is finally maturing, there’s no end in sight to the growth of mobile gaming.

In fact, the mobile sector should swell from $35 billion this year to $48 billion by 2020, according to a fresh forecast from tech advisory firm Digi-Capital.

If accurate, that means mobile’s share of the overall gaming market will increase from 39% this year, to 42% by 2020 -- representing an 8% compound annual growth rate.

That’s better than the 7% CAGR that Digi-Capital expects for the overall gaming software business -- which translates to revenue of more than $90 billion this year, increasing to $115 billion by 2020.

From a global perspective, Asia became the dominant games region in recent years. Looking ahead, China, Japan, South Korea and the rest of Asia will account for over $4 of every $10 spent on all games software by 2020, Digi-Capital expects.

For mobile gaming in particular, China’s robust domestic Android app stores -- and Apple’s surge in the last year -- mean that it should remain a market leader.

What’s more, Asia as a whole could account for more than half of all mobile games revenue by the end of the decade, according to Digi-Capital.

It’s worth noting that the advisory firm isn’t the only soothsayer predicting big things for mobile.

Measured in terms of software revenue, Deloitte recently said it expects smartphones and tablets to become the leading gaming platforms this year. All told, mobile gaming will generate $35 billion in revenue -- up 20% from 2015, Deloitte expects.

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