Understanding the South African Gaming Industry by the Numbers

The African continent is home to numerous burgeoning markets, with South Africa standing out as a prominent player, particularly in the gaming industry. As part of our editorial focus on the region, we're examining the broader gaming landscape, including audience size, revenue, and the developer ecosystem, with insights from market research firm Newzoo and a 2021 report by Tshimologong Wits University. In 2023, South Africa's video game spending reached $266 million, representing 0.14% of the global $184 billion spent on video games, according to Newzoo. This figure is expected to grow to $333 million by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.8%, indicating a steadily increasing market. Mobile gaming accounted for 91% of the revenue in 2023, with PC and console games making up 5% and 4%, respectively. The average player spent around $25 per year, primarily on in-game microtransactions due to the popularity of mobile titles. Newzoo also identified the most popular console and PC games in terms of monthly active users, including Fortnite, The Sims 4, and Minecraft. Approximately 26.5 million people in South Africa played video games in 2023, showing a 5.4% CAGR since 2020, with 44% of the population engaged in gaming. The majority of players (85%) have played a mobile game in the past six months, while only 15% have played a console title. The gender split among gamers is 53% male and 46% female. The largest demographic is aged 14 to 28, making up almost half of the gaming population, followed by those aged 29 to 42. Children under 10 account for 12.1% of gamers. Watching livestreamed games content is increasingly popular, with 64% of the gaming population tuning in regularly, and 61% of South African gamers both playing games and watching gaming content online. Newzoo forecasts the gaming audience to grow to 30.2 million players by 2026, a CAGR of 4.3% from 2023, still representing 44% of the South African population. A comprehensive study by Tshimologong Wits University explored the games development landscape in South Africa in 2021, involving 168 industry participants. The study estimated there are 60 active games studios, with the majority being microenterprises. Only six studios employed more than ten people, with the largest employing 36. While most players favor mobile games, larger studios focus on PC and console development. 55% of studios develop games for PC, compared to 33% for mobile. Unity is the most popular engine among South African game developers, used by over 90% of studios. Cape Town and Johannesburg are home to the most studios, with the Gauteng province hosting 42.1% of the South African games companies. The workforce is similarly distributed, with 50.5% of games professionals living in the Western Cape and 37.4% in Gauteng. Interestingly, 14.1% of respondents work for companies based outside of South Africa, mostly living in the Western Cape. The study noted a 'dramatic increase' in local developers finding employment at international companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to remote work. 21% of professionals have over ten years of experience, indicating an maturing industry. Two-thirds of respondents are 35 or younger, with the largest age bracket being 26 to 30-year-olds. There's a stark contrast between the diversity of the games workforce and the general population, with 82% of games professionals being white, compared to 7.3% of the population. Black people, who make up 81.4% of the population, only account for 6% of the study's respondents. The industry's diversity is a recurring topic, with leaders acknowledging the need for change and actively incentivizing people of color to gain experience and leadership positions. The study also explored people's upbringing, noting that a disproportionate amount grew up in upper-middle-class to upper-class environments. 83% of games professionals identify as male, and 10% as female, with 7% non-binary. 6% of respondents are transgender. Tshimologong reported a slight improvement in the number of women and non-white people employed in the industry, mostly attributed to larger studios. More than half of the respondents (57%) are employed in development and programming, although many fulfill multiple roles due to the small size of most studios. The most common roles outside of programming and development are art, design, business operations, and project management. Only half of the respondents are full-time permanent employees, with 14.1% on fixed-term contracts, and 10.1% freelancers. 25.3% are studio owners or directors, highlighting the prevalence of self-run, single-person developers. Hobbyists face barriers such as higher earning potential in other industries, insufficient jobs, and inadequate skills. 75% of hobbyist respondents work in software development, with the next most common industry being animation. Throughout the week, we'll be exploring South Africa's games industry further through interviews with various studios, covering topics such as challenges, support for games businesses, and market growth drivers.