Gaming is growing at an incredible pace all around the world. In fact global revenue is estimated to be worth over $159 billion in 2021 with a projected compound annual growth rate of 10.5% until 2026.
The forecast is even bigger for Africa as the continent plays catch up with the rest of the world. Asia Pacific and North America has been the biggest consumers of video games but Africa and South America’s emerging youth market is blooming as smart phones make gaming accessible to everyone.
Platforms
There are three different platforms namely PC, console and mobile gaming. Mobile gaming is the leader of the pack with about 48% of the market share; this is mainly due of the accessibility. Console gaming which is mainly made out of Xbox (Microsoft), PlayStation (Sony) and Switch (Nintendo) has 28% share of the market with PC netting 23% of the market.
The gaming industry is not only made up by the different gaming platforms and game developers. Competitive gaming has been on the scene since the emergence of video gaming.
Esports is competitive gaming with teams or individuals playing games against each other in different leagues and games with major winnings. The revenue of the best eSport players are considerable with the best in the world earning well into the millions of dollars.
Major competitions prize money totalled about $65 million in 2020 a 65% drop from 2019 due to all the mitigating circumstances. This will undoubtedly grow and surpass previous years as the world slowly returns back to normality.
eSport betting
Some South African brands have already jumped on the gaming band wagon. Kaizer Chiefs
have already created their own eSports team and eSport betting has recently been introduced on major tournaments by Betway.
Viewing of gaming tournaments makes up the last piece of the puzzle. Last year an estimated 496 million people from all around the globe tuned in to watch their favourite team compete.
Twitch is one of the biggest games streaming platforms in the world. Twitch enables anybody that plays games to broadcast their gaming experience and stream it live for an audience.
The platform gives viewers and players the chance to comment and communicate in real time with each other. Twitch estimates that it receives about 140 million users a month.
How can companies capitalise on this growth and get in on the action?
Partnering or sponsoring of eSports tournaments or teams is a great way to get your brand’s name out there.
The viewership of these events will only increase as gaming around the continent grows. Connecting brands with the youth is vital for brand growth.
Another way is strategic brand placement in games that can be done in partnership with gaming developers, this specifically pertinent for mobile gaming. The opportunities for companies to participate are endless it is just a matter of which avenue will be right for the brand.
