It’s difficult to imagine a world without PCs, consoles, and mobile games. The gaming sector started in 1972 with the release of Pong, a simple arcade ping pong game, and the industry has just kept growing. As of 2020, the video game market was worth $159 billion and is expected to reach over $250 billion in the next five years.
With PC games, you get more control and have access to a wider variety of games; however, mobile games are cheap and easily portable. Here are just some of the reasons why the gaming sector is so profitable and which platform is rated the best.
Online Gaming is Affordable
When arcade games first came out, you had to play using real coins and you would have to spend more money each time you wanted to play another round. A large portion of the gaming sector has since changed by going online, and once you have paid for the license, the game is yours to play forever. With online licenses, you get regular updates to the latest patches and you can sign in from any other computer.
As of 2019, the online gaming market using PCs accounted for $35 billion of the current $159 billion. The biggest benefit to this platform is probably the variety of games available to PC players if they have sufficient hardware.
Mobile Games Are Accessible
For players who can’t afford gaming PCs or the latest console, they can turn to mobile and tablet games instead. These types of games need very little hardware and mobile data to play and you can carry tons of games around in your pocket. Games that use minimal hardware like Candy Crush and pokies via an online casino nz, are taking over the gaming market due to the ease of access and mobility of mobile games.
Mobile and tablet games account for $68.5 billion and are currently more profitable than console gaming. China is reported to have the largest video game market in the world, and the Asia-Pacific regions make up over $72.2 billion of that global gaming market share.
Consoles Offer AAA Games
While there are substantially more PC games in comparison to consoles, the quality of console gaming is much higher. Only the A-list games are released on Xbox and PlayStation consoles and many believe this is the most elite platform to game on.
The downside is that consoles can be very expensive, especially first-generation models. If you want to play a particular game with your friends, they also need to own the same console to have a compatible platform. The most popular console game for Xbox is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and PlayStation has seen Dark Souls 3 downloaded the most often.
While consoles and PCs offer a wider variety and higher quality games, the mobile gaming sector of the industry already owns more than 57% of the market. This number is only expected to increase more, and puzzle games, simulations, and the old-style arcade favourites are the biggest sellers. Many of these games are even free to play if you don’t mind the ads, and they are the most popular hyper-casual games for the busy professional.