The sheer size of the gaming market has drastically increased as the years have gone by. The US is still the biggest gaming market in the world, with gaming revenue topping $54.9 billion. Ranking second is China, with $44 billion in annual revenue. China and the US have been battling it out for quite some time, with Tencent, one of the biggest online companies in the global gaming market making waves in the sector. The US is still edging ahead though, as there are close to 175 million gamers in the country.
Gaming Remains to be One of America’s Favorite Pastimes
Gaming as a whole, whether it’s mobile gaming or PC, remains to be one of America’s favorite pastimes. 212 million people in the US play games on a regular basis, with New Jersey seeing a huge increase in gaming revenue. It’s now up 12%, reaching near-record highs of $461.5m. Part of this can be attributed to the rise of the New Jersey casino online sector. With new titles being released by the year. Part of the reason why online gaming is so popular right now is because it helps to connect people, which would have not been traditionally possible otherwise.
Someone in New Jersey can play games with someone from Minnesota, which is helping to foster new gaming subcommittees across the country. Gaming, on such a mass scale, is also helpful for those who might have accessibility issues. People who have different physical abilities can often find a game, of some form, that they can enjoy. Whether it’s online chess, or playing trending mobile titles.
The Mobile Market is Dominating the US
Mobile gaming is without a doubt dominating the sector right now. There are nearly two smartphone gamers for every PC or tablet player. It seems that developers are also moving away from hyper-casual gaming, and instead focusing on higher production values. Big-budget mobile titles often use other methods of monetisation. Companies are noting that there are more and more games introducing options such as game currencies, premium content and subscriptions. Part of the mobile dominance comes from the fact that it is accessible and a good gateway for new gamers.
You don’t need a top-of-the-range PC setup to enjoy the latest titles, nor do you need to make heavy up-front investments for new titles. Most of the time, the games are free to play with zero investment required. Even the ones that do require investment often put the choice in the hands of the user. With more and more people coming to mobile as a platform, it’s helping the US market to bolster and stay ahead of the competition. With the US accounting for 40% of growth in the mobile gaming sector and mobile gaming set to increase by 4% on a year-over-year basis, exciting times are ahead.
Whether or not the US keeps the lead is yet to be seen, but with countries such as Japan and China having such a solid community of gamers, they certainly have a lot of competition.
