Asia

China

2020 Stats

• Mobile and PC games revenue in China was a combined $33.1bn in 2019 and is projected to pass $46.7bn by 2024. (Niko Partners, May 2020)

• 685m people in China played games in 2019, expected to rise to 772m by 2024. 637m people play on mobile and most PC players also play mobile games. (Niko Partners, May 2020)

• Mobile games generated revenues of $18.5m in 2019, up 18.2% from the previous year, and are forecast to reach $32.0bn by 2024. This excludes revenue from mobile game exports, which was $6.4 billion, up 21% yoy. (Niko Partners, May 2020)

• Female players are rising, making up 42% of total players in 2018, 46% in 2019 and forecast to be 50% in 2020, primarily on mobile platforms. (Niko Partners, May 2020)

• Total Chinese revenue from esports-related games reached $13.9bn in 2019, or 42% of all revenue, and is projected to grow to $23.2bn by 2024. (Niko Partners, May 2020)

• PC games revenue fell 4% to $14.6bn in 2019, and further decline is expected especially due to the impact of COVID-19 on internet cafes. However, China remains the world’s largest market for PC gaming. (Niko Partners, May 2020)

2019 Stats

• Despite a regulatory freeze of new games launches in China, Asia’s mobile games market grew by 18% year-over-year thanks to endemic hardcore titles such as Honour of Kings. (Superdata, Jan 2019)

• China, the US and Japan are the top markets for mobile gaming consumer spend and accounted for 75% of spend in 2018. (App Annie, Jan 2019)

2018 Stats

• China had 619.5million players in 2018. (Newzoo, Aug 2018)

• China ranks #1 in games revenues, generating $37.9billion in 2018. (Newzoo, Jun 2018)

• Digital revenues account for 91% of the market. (Newzoo, Jun 2018)

• China will remain the largest market globally, reaching $50.7bn in revenues by 2021. (Newzoo, Jun 2018)

2017 Stats

• In 2017, Chinese company Tencent, the largest games company in the world in revenue terms, achieved 97.9bn RMB (approx. $15.35bn) in global online game revenues, growing 38% year-on-year.

• The Chinese video game market was worth $25.6bn in 2016 and is projected to grow to $29bn for 2017. (IHS Markit, June 2017)

• PC accounted for 51 per cent of the total 2016 spend. However, the mobile market grew by 55 per cent last year and is expected to overtake PC before the end of 2017. The console install base remains at under 500k units. (IHS Markit, June 2017)

• Microtransactions account for 88 per cent of the total PC spend. Spending on full PC game downloads has grown from $54m in 2015 to $220m in 2016. China is the fourth biggest global market for full PC game downloads. (IHS Markit, June 2017)

• The Chinese gaming giant Tencent alone claimed 59 per cent of all PC spending in China. (IHS Markit, June 2017)

• Chinese revenues will account for a quarter of all global revenue, growing 9.2% YYO to reach $27.5bn in 2017. (Newzoo, Apr 2017)

• Most of China’s growth will come from mobile gaming, with Tencent and NetEase leading the way. Mobile gaming revenues from these two companies alone reached $7.7 billion in 2016. (Newzoo, Apr 2017)

• ‘Fantasy Westward Journey’ is perhaps the most successful example of a role-playing game in China, having earned publisher NetEase over $800 million in China alone since its release in 2015. (App Annie, Jan 2017)

2016 Stats

• In Q3 2016, China became the largest national market for iOS App Store revenues overall, earning more than $1.7 billion in the Q3 2016, exceeding the US by around 15%. Games make up approximately 75% of that revenue, in which China has been leading since Q2 2016. (App Annie, Oct 2016)

• China is the no.1 national market for iOS App Store Games revenues, exceeding the US and Japan revenues in Q2 2016. (App Annie, Oct 2016)

• According to Newzoo’s estimation, China has overtaken the US as the as world’s largest gaming market at $24.4bn, vs the US’s $23.6bn. With a larger population and gaming yet to reach a mature penetration, we can expect China’s lead *to grow over time. (Newzoo, June 2016)

• The Chinese mobile eSports market is dominated by Tencent, one of the largest gaming companies in the world. They currently control 63% of the iOS market and 50% for Android. Their nearest competitor, NetEase controls 5% of iOS and 8% for Android. (Newzoo, June 2016)

• APAC territories will generate $46.6 billion in 2016, or 47% of total global game revenues. This growth represents a 10.7% YoY increase. China alone accounts for half of APAC’s revenues, reaching $24.4 billion. (Newzoo, May 2016)

• The mobile segment in China is growing even faster than estimated and will reach $10.0 billion this year, up 41% from $7.1 billion in 2015. (Newzoo, May 2016)

• China will remain the largest games market for the foreseeable future, growing to $28.9 billion by 2019. (Newzoo, May 2016)

• In 2014, Microsoft reported Xbox One sales of 100k units in China in its first week and aims to sell 1m in its first year. (MCV, Oct 2014)

• In 2014, Sony is also expanding in China, aiming to sell 200k machines annually and will start selling Dec 2014. Sony has 2 joint ventures in China’s free trade zone for hardware and software. (MCV, Oct 2014)

• In 2014, After 14 years of console ban in China, Xbox One launched there for about $600, without Kinect included. All games on platform need to be approved by Chinese government prior to launch. (GamePolitics.com, Sept 2014)

• In 2014, China’s mobile market has exploded and is expected to grow by 93% in 2014 to reach $2.9bn. The strong expansion is forecast to continue with a 2013-2018 impressive 37.6% compound annual growth rate. (Venturebeat, Aug 2014)

India

• In 2017, mobile game downloads in India are forecast to grow by 111%, while generating less than 1% of global consumer spend. Game developers may need to consider alternative monetization models, like advertising, to thrive in this market. (App Annie, March 2017)

Japan

• There are 67.6 million players in Japan, the 3rd largest games market in the world. ([1], Aug 2018)

• Japan generated $19.2billion in games revenues in 2018. ([2], Aug 2018)

• The console hardware sales experienced a huge spike in 2017 compared to the previous year. In 2016, Japanese hardware sales were 117.05 billion yen (£776m), while in 2017, they jumped to 202.37 billion yen (£1.34bn). Software sales also increased: in 2016, they were 182.4 billion yen (£1.20bn) and the following year, they were 189.3 billion yen (£1.25bn). The last time the Japanese gaming market saw an uptick was in 2006, when the Nintendo DS Lite, the Nintendo Wii, the PS3 launched. (Kotaku / Famitsu, Jan 2017)

• The PS Vita has met success in Japan, selling over 4m units in the country, way more than it has in North America. While Nintendo’s 3DS is the handheld leader, the Vita is not far away. This could be in part due to the success of the PS4, expected to surpass the sales of the best-selling Sony console in history, the PS2. Sony has developed a feature called “Remote Play”, which allows users to stream PS4 games on the Vita. Other reasons to explain success re the work culture of the country, where people don’t get to spend much time at home. Vita may be Sony’s last handheld console, meaning that Nintendo could have a monopoly in the future – unless the Vita sales in Japan continue to grow. (InsideGamesAsia.biz, Aug 2015)

• In 2014 Japan’s games revenue hit its highest level, at $9.6bn. 60% is made of mobile games businesses, getting a revenue $5.8 (+18% Year-on-Year). When looking at the “online games “ component defined as smart and feature phones, tablets and PC, it was worth $6.4bn (+13% Year-on-Year). (Insidegamesasia.biz and Famitsu, Jun 2015)

South Korea

• South Korea is the fourth-largest market with games revenues of $5.6billion as of 2018. (Newzoo, Jun 2018)

• South Korea has 28.9million players (Newzoo, Aug 2018)

• The South Korean online gaming sector grew by 14.9 percent to reach 83 billion won ($76.2m / £56.2m) as of 2016. It was 60 billion won (£40.6m) in 2014 and 72.3 billion won (£48.9m) in 2015, according to a report jointly published by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency. Korea takes up 14.9 percent of the global market, which is estimated to be worth around $557 billion as of 2016. (Korea Herald, Nov 2017)

• The South Korean online gaming sector’s contribution to the local economy has increased, too, by producing economic production activities worth 163.7 billion won (£110.8m) in 2016, as well as 63.3 billion won (£42.8m) in added value. In 2015, the figures were 141 billion won (£95.5m) and 54.4 billion won (£36.8m), respectively. (Korea Herald, Nov 2017)

• Mobile sector has grown to become core of the games market (£1.4bn in 2014). (KOCCA, July 2015)

• Trend-oriented game market: some particular genres, especially RPGs, show consistent popularity. Teens, 20s, 30s are main trend setters. (KOCCA, July 2015)

• Main business model is the Free-To-Play model with in-app purchases. Main source of revenue for games is via payments made to access additional content. (KOCCA, July 2015)

• 3rd biggest android game market worldwide. (KOCCA, July 2015)

• Transparent market with verified marketing effect: marketing and promotion are an important factor in forming game trends. (KOCCA, July 2015)

• Influence on other countries: China and South-East Asian countries. (KOCCA, July 2015)

• Essential strategies to enter the Korean market: Marketing, as this is a key factor to get game known, influence trend setters and succeed. The free-to-play model with in-app purchases is king. Localisation is important, in language but also user interface for example. Transform games titles into a brand. (KOCCA, July 2015)

• In 2014, social casual gaming is really strong in South Korea, four of the country’s most influential developers (Com2uS, NCSoft, Nexon, Smilegate) are valued at more than $1bn each by investors. Mobile game distribution platforms like Kakao and Line are valued at over $9bn. (Pocketgamer.biz, Oct 2014, LINK)

Southeast Asia

• “Big 6” countries in region: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. These 6 cover 88% of the region’s population. (Newzoo, Feb 2015)

• Region’s total games revenues reached $1bn in 2014, Newzoo expects it to reach $2.2b, more than double, in the 3 years leading to 2017 (an impressive 2013-2017 CAGR of +29%). (Newzoo, Feb 2015)

• In terms of market share: while Thailand will remain first by still growing its market (from 21% in 2013 to 22% market share in 2017), Singapore will lose (from 19% to 12% mkt share) to faster growing countries like Indonesia (from 16% to 21% mkt share) and the Philippines (from 9% to 11% mkt share). (Newzoo, Feb 2015)

• Malaysia: SEA country where playing on multiple screens is the most popular: 26.5% players do so. (Newzoo, Feb 2015)
  • Malaysia has 14m gamers who spent $587m in 2017; #21 worldwide in terms of games revenues (newzoo, 2017)

• Philippines: between 2004 And 2014 internet access grew by more than 800%, the fastest rate in SEA, meaning that in 2014 their online population was 42 million. (Newzoo, Feb 2015)

• Singapore: unique in that it has more players aged 36 to 50 than 10 to 20. (Newzoo, Feb 2015)
  • Consumer spend on video games was $368m in 2016 (PwC, 2017)

• Vietnam has 32.8m gamers who spent $365m in 2017 (Newzoo, 2017)

• Thailand’s games market is expected to more than double in 3 years, from $230m in 2014 to $491m in 2017, for a +31% CAGR. (Newzoo, Feb 2015)