Midia Research Forecasts Video Game Industry to Surpass $300 Billion in Revenue by 2030

The global video game industry is anticipated to reach an annual revenue of over $300 billion and attract a worldwide audience of 3.8 billion active players by 2030, according to a recent report by Midia Research. The report highlights the industry's growth prospects for the remainder of the decade and identifies key factors that will drive this growth. However, the report's authors, Karol Severin and Perry Gresham, caution that the industry's growth pace has likely peaked, with the COVID-19 pandemic artificially boosting growth in 2020 and 2021, followed by a decline in 2022. Despite this, the industry is expected to return to modest growth in 2023, with global revenues projected to reach $223.1 billion. The number of active players is expected to increase to 2.88 billion in 2023, up from 2.73 billion in 2022. Midia Research also explores the impact of subscriptions, which are expected to generate $11.7 billion in revenue by the end of 2023, accounting for 5.2% of global game revenue. In-game spending is projected to reach $125.7 billion in 2023, with cosmetic purchases driving the majority of this growth. The report highlights the importance of the player population, internet penetration, and smartphone adoption in driving industry growth. By 2030, the number of active game subscriptions is expected to grow to 318.5 million, accounting for 7.5% of global game revenue. In-game spending is expected to increase to $176.9 billion, with cosmetics remaining the main driver. The report concludes with advice for developers and distributors, emphasizing the need to adapt to the changing landscape of the industry and to focus on key growth drivers such as in-game spending, advertising, and subscriptions.