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33 Out Of This World Video Games

Industry Statistics In 2020
by Deyan G. | April 23, 2019

Hello, fellow gamers!

Are you ready to pick up your sword/rifle/blaster/candy and join me on an adventure?
The journey today will take us to the home of video games industry statistics.
Sounds intriguing, right?
Here is just a preview of what’s ahead:

There are 2.5 billion gamers in the world.

48% of gaming studios work on VR/AR games.
Every day 25 new games are released on Steam.
The gaming video content market was $5.2 billion in 2018.
The revenue of the digital games industry in the US was $10 billion in 2019.
Dota 2 players received over $177 million in tournament prizes.
45% of US gamers are women.
League of Legends is the most popular game.

Ready, set, GO!

Today we’ll find out more about this industry, thanks to some of the most fantastic
video game statistics on the Web.
The gaming industry is the wealthiest of all entertainment industries.
It could also have a massive impact on our lives. If you’ve ever reloaded your weapon at
4 a.m. while rubbing your red eyes, hoping your enemy is out of bullets – you’ll know
what I mean.
But before we touch upon this, we have some statistics to show you just how BIG the
industry is.
Let’s start by looking at some:

WHAT DO WE HAVE ON THIS PAGE [show]

Incredible Gaming Industry Stats

“Stay awhile and listen.” – Deckard Cain, Diablo II

1. The Chinese games market is set to reach $35 billion in 2021.

(Source: Niko)
First of all, China has approximately 600 million gamers. That’s nearly two times the
entire population of the US. Obviously, China is the home to most of the players in the
world. Surprisingly enough, only one Chinese gamer ranks amongst the top 10 paid pro
gamers. His name is Li “iceice” Peng. The Dota 2 player ranks at #10 in the wealthiest
gamers chart.

2. The average gamer is 34 years old.

(Source: ESA)
Although the prevailing opinion is that games are for younger people, numbers don’t lie.
Around 11% of all gamers are actually over 50 years old. Only 30% are younger than 18
years.
And speaking of players who make a living out of video games:
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3. The wealthiest pro gamer in the world has earned over $4

million.
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(Source: eSportsEarnings)
KuroKy (Kuro Takhasomi) is a German (yup, German) pro player who amassed the
overwhelming amount of $4,165,926 in prize money. He plays one of the most popular
computer games ever – Dota 2. So do the rest of the top 5 wealthiest gamers.

4. The global games market in 2019 was $148.8 billion.

(Source: NewZoo)
The video game industry shows an impressive growth of 7.2% YoY. The Asia-Pacific
region had the most remarkable growth in 2018 – 16.8% YoY with $71.4 billion in
revenue.
Just for comparison, the global movie production and distribution industry reached
revenue of $136 billion in 2018.

5. 47% of game developers sell their games on Steam.

(Source: GDC, State of the Game industry 2019)

26% prefer to sell their games to customers directly (via developers’ website for
example). The publisher-owned storefronts like Battle.net, however, account for only
18% of sales.
By the way, if you didn’t know – out of every dollar you spend on Steam, 30 cents go to
Valve’s vault. Yet, publishers who sell their games on Steam say that Valve’s storefront
accounts for 75-100 percent of their sales revenue.
Do you want to know how many people play video games?

6. There are more than 2.5 billion gamers in the world.

(Source: WePC)
Imagine this – you see a room with three people in it. Regardless of their race, sex,
nationality, and age, statistically, one of them is a gamer.
Gaming is HUUUUUGEEEE. Like, for real. And the video game industry revenue
surpasses every other entertainment industry.

7. Matching puzzle games are the most played games on

mobile.

(Source: EEDAR)
Most hardcore gamers who play PUBG mobile, Asphalt, NBA Live, or Clash of Clans
probably raised an eyebrow at this stat.
Well, that’s what most people play.
If you don’t, I bet you know some people who match colorful candies (or something
else) from time to time.
Mobile gaming stats show that 17% of mobile gamers play “matching puzzles”,
followed by the so-called “brain puzzles” with 11%. Strategy games come third with 7%.
These stats are unbelievable. Did you even suspect some of those? Impressive as they
are, who is the main factor behind these stats?
“No gods or kings. Only man.” – Andrew Ryan, Bioshock

Video Games Demographics – a.k.a. the Gamers’ Pro le

In this section, we’ll see what kind of people play games – young or old, male or female,
and so on.
Curious?
Let’s go!
8. The average female video game player is 36. Average male –
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32.

(Source:
CONTACT ESA)ABOUT US 

45% of US gamers are women. Almost perfect gender equality in the US. But some
things never change. Males purchase more games than females – 61% vs 39%. Most
women still prefer to spend their money elsewhere.
The video game statistics in the United States of America indicate something weirdly
curious.

9. 23% of video players in the US are over 50 years old.

(Source: Statista)
Gaming isn’t a prerogative for younger people. Players under 18 years of age account for
less than a third of all gamers.

10. 60% of Americans play video games daily.

(Source: ESA)
Americans spend an average of seven hours a week playing with others online and six
more hours playing with others in person.

11. 56% of gamers play multiplayer games at least once a week.

(Source: ESA)
This stat also helps us figure out the gamer’s profile. How? You’ll see.
According to the video games statistics for 2018-2019, 55% of gamers say video games
help them connect with their friends. Almost half say it helps their family spend more
time together.
Remember back in the day, when you went out with friends and spent all night just
filling their digital heads with bullets? Priceless.

12. 63% of players aged 25-34 play VR games.

(Source: EEDAR)
Have you seen the movie Gamer? Or Ender’s Game?
VR is a whole new experience of gaming. There, your entire body is the game controller.
Like Nintendo WII but way cooler.
More than half of the active gamers at the age of 25-34 take advantage of the VR games
on the market.
On the other hand, the technology isn’t that popular among gamers above 45 – only 2%
of them play VR games.
“Thank you Mario! But our Princess is in another castle!“ – Toad, Super Mario Bros.

Game Studios Statistics

Were you surprised to find out that the gaming industry has the largest market size,
outstripping cinema and music? Game development studios are well-aware of this fact.

13. Females represent only 19% of the workforce in the gaming

industry.

(Source: GDC)
Probably this is the reason why so many games suck big time.
Some of the big companies aim to “enforce” gender equality by hiring more women.
Blizzard increased the number of female interns by 166% in 2016.
EA, another giant in the gaming industry, is also proud of its ladies. 48% of participants
in vital employee development programs are female.
Well done!
“Nothing is more badass than treating a woman with respect!” – Mr. Torgue, Borderlands
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2

14. Companies
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with over 500 employees represent 19% of the
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industry.

(Source: GDC)
Do you want to know the percentage of companies with only one employee?
Also 19%.
15% of the companies have “2 to 5” employees.
These statistics about the video games industry portray a real-world David vs. Goliath.
Turns out small companies can compete e ectively with large enterprises.
Speaking of companies, we can’t ignore the financial aspect of the gaming industry.

How Much Money Does the Gaming Industry Make?

“Steel wins battles. Gold wins wars.” – Davion the Dragon Knight, DOTA 2
We already know that the global games market in 2018 was valued at $137.9 billion. Now
we’ll break it down by segments.

15. The average price of a game on Steam is $8.86 in 2019.

(Source: Steamspy)
In 2018 the average price used to be $8.29. A small increase, though definitely
noteworthy, especially when taking into account the increased number of free-to-play
games. Cheap games is one of the biggest benefits of PC gaming. Even if you build a
gaming PC for 600 dollars, you’re going to save a ton of money on games, not to
mention the Steam service itself is free.

16. 25 new games were released every day on Steam in 2018.

(Source: Statista)
Last year (2018) 9050 new games were released on Steam alone. With Steam’s database
now featuring as many as 28,977 games, gamers have plenty of options.

17. The gaming video content market was $5.2 billion in 2018.

(Source: Superdata)
Can you believe how much money this industry makes? All this revenue comes from just
streaming the most popular games.
Mind-blowing!
Twitch stats reveal revenue was at $1.6 billion, leaving YouTube second with $1.2
billion, despite the latter’s enormous audience.

18. Free-to-play games earned 80% of the total digital games

revenue in 2018.

(Source: Superdata)
The total free-to-play game market in 2018 was worth $87.7 billion. That’s impressive if
you consider there’s the word “free” in it.  Asia’s gamers were responsible for 62% of this
enormous amount. The main game to blame is Fortnite, which drastically increased the
free-to-play console games with its 458% growth year-on-year.

19. The top earner in the free-to-play market made its creators
$2.4 billion.

(Source: Superdata)
And the winner is (drumroll) – Fortnite by Epic Games!
The Battle Royale PvP mode of Fortnite is the undisputed champion for 2018. The second
place award goes to Dungeon Fighter Online – the Nexon RPG has earned $1.5 billion.
#3 is League of Legends by Riot Games with $1.5 billion as well.
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20. Paid in-game items and DLCs account for 48% of the
revenue
CONTACT from free-to-play games.
ABOUT US 

(Source: GDC)
Say goodbye to loot boxes.
Only 9% of the respondents of this survey said their next project would include paid-
item crates.
Paid in-game items will be available in 24% of the upcoming games. The same number
applies for paid updates/DLCs.
You’ll be able to purchase in-game currency in 22% of the upcoming free-to-play games.

21. Revenue from premium games was $17.8 billion in 2018.

(Source: Superdata)
This may come as a surprise, considering the explosive growth of free-to-play games.
Superdata’s research indicates a 10% rise in revenue in 2018. Care to find out which are
the top earning games?
Here they are:

Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds – $1.02 billion

FIFA 18 – $790 million
Grand The Auto V – $628 million

Activision Blizzard’s shooters also performed great last year. The company has three
games in the top ten best-selling PC and console games:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 – $612 million

Call of Duty: WWII – $506 million
Overwatch – $429 million

Safe to say, gamers love to shoot stu .

“Grass grows, birds fly, sun shines, and brother, I hurt people.” – The Scout, Team Fortress
2
Of course, big studios aren’t the only ones that create games.

22. The indie game market is estimated to be around $1 billion

on Steam alone.

(Source: Hackernoon)
Pretty big number in absolute terms but not really impressive when you consider the
industry as a whole. The indie game market share was at only 0.72% in 2018.
Still, every once in a while a diamond appears out of the dirt.
Ever heard of Minecra ?
It got sold to Microso for $2.5 billion in 2014 and is now available on a wide variety of
devices.
Speaking of devices, here are some numbers on gaming machines.

Video Games Industry Statistics for Different Devices

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23. Smartphone is the gaming device of choice for 41% of

gamers.

(Source: Newzoo, Newzoo)

Mobile games (smartphones and tablets) make 46% of the global market. For the first
time in the history of gaming, mobile games were responsible for more than half the
worldwide revenue. The smartphone games’ growth was 11.4% YoY and the industry
value was $54.7 billion in 2019.
How do other devices fare?
According to market statistics, the percentage points of pc gamers vs console ones were
24% and 25% respectively in 2018.
Out of the 24% playing on their PC, 3% played browser games.
Although the PC games segment is the smallest, still:

24. 66% of game studios are currently making games for PC.

(Source: GDC)
Almost two-thirds of interviewees were in the process of creating a PC game.
Almost 38% worked on a mobile game for smartphones and tablets.
31% of all studios were developing a game for Playstation 4/Pro, while 28% were
working on an Xbox game.

25. RPGs and shooters are the most played genres for PC.

(Source: EEDAR)
Raising levels and raising hell are the two favorite activities of the average PC gamer,
according to the video games statistics.
The top paid gamers prove it – the wealthiest play Dota 2, followed by the CS:GO pro
gamers.
Let’s look at the numbers  – 13% play role-playing games and roughly the same number
of people enjoy shooters.
Puzzle games come third with 11%.  

26. 48% of game studios work on VR/AR games.

(Source: GDC)
Almost half of all developers are currently working on virtual or augmented reality
games.
HTC Vive is the most popular device with 33% of developers working on a game,
optimized for HTC’s headset. Oculus Ri comes second with 30%, followed by Sony’s
PlayStation VR with 13%.
Researchers found something even more intriguing – 34% of developers believe AR will
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be the dominant technology in five years.
Only 19% consider
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VR as the future of immersive reality.
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“Nothing is true, everything is permitted.” – Ezio Auditore, Assassin’s Creed 2

27. Android is the preferred OS for mobile games.

(Source: GDC)
In our study on smartphone adoption rates, we already mentioned the enormous
market share of Android devices.
It comes to no surprise that more than half (53%) of developers are working on a game
for Android.
The same metric for iOS games is at 50%.
39% of the respondents didn’t work on a mobile game at all.
These are some fantastic stats!
Now…
“It’s time to kick ass and chew bubblegum… and I’m all outta gum.” – Duke Nukem, Duke
Nukem 3D

Entertaining Gaming Facts

Did you know that:

28. The blocks in Super Mario used to be people.

(Source: Didyouknowgaming)
When the koopas (the turtles) in Super Mario occupied the mushroom kingdom, they
turned its people into blocks. Feel sorry for all those destroyed blocks? I know I did.

29. Diablo cares for your health.

(Source: Useless Gaming)

In the final battle of Diablo I, the boss says something incomprehensible while walking
in. If you play his words backwards, you will get: “Eat your vegetables and brush a er
every meal.”
Good guy Diablo.

30. Doom 2 pays tribute to Kurt Cobain.

(Source: Did You Know Gaming)

In 1994 two important things happened:
Kurt Cobain killed himself with a shotgun…
…and Doom 2 was released.
Doom 2 features a map called “Nirvana”. It has a shotgun near its entry point.
The next part is truly crazy, though.
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Games Can Predict the Future

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Wait, what?

31. Deus EX predicted the 9/11 attacks.

(Source: GotGame)
Deus EX was released 19 years ago – in 2000. There are sections of the game where New
York is visible. Interesting enough, the WTC twin towers weren’t there.
There is a simple explanation for this fact, but still, conspiracy theorists may see it
di erently here.
The twin towers don’t exist in the game because of memory limitations. The developers
explained in-game why the towers were missing.
Care to guess how they justified removing the towers?
Yeah… early in the game’s storyline, a terrorist attack occurred.

32. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon foresaw the war in Georgia.

(Source: Gamespot)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon’s release date was in 2001. In the game, the US sends special
forces to aid Georgia’s troops as they fight against South Ossetian rebels and the
Russian army.
Seven years a er the game’s release – in 2008, Russia sent troops to protect South
Ossetia from the Georgian army.
A five-day-long conflict began and ended with Russian regulars near Tbilisi, the capital
of Georgia.

33. EA’s simulation predicted the outcome of the Super Bowl

in 2015.

(Source: Cnet)
EA games simulations o en come close to the correct result, but the one from 2015 just
took it too far.
Madden NFL 15 predicted that the New England Patriots will win the Super Bowl against
the Seattle Seahawks. The end result of the simulated match was 28 – 24.
Guess how the real match ended?
Super Bowl XLIX – New England Patriots: 28; Seattle Seahawks: 24.
EA’s game even correctly predicted how the Patriots will go on to score their last
touchdown.
Wish I had a time machine and a few hundred bucks to spare.
“Finish him!” – Mortal Kombat announcer, Mortal Kombat
Okay, guys, it’s time to wrap it up.

Conclusion
The video game industry’s revenue is higher than any other in the entertainment sector.
Therefore it’s safe to say games rule the entertainment business.
Alright, now that we looked at these stunning statistics about the video game industry,
we can conclude that video games have helped shape our society, for better or for
worse. Everyone either plays or knows somebody who is a gamer.
See you soon, fellow gamers. My trigger finger feels itchy. I’m o to spray some bullets.
I’m leaving you with these last-minute game quotes to make your day:
“Drinking alone’s as bad as shitting in company.” – Zoltan Chivay (The Witcher 2: Assassins
of Kings)
“Never pet a burning dog.” – Warcra 2: Tides of Darkness
 “Waka waka waka waka waka waka waka” – Pacman
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Sources:

1. Niko
2. ESA
3. eSportsEarnings
4. NewZoo
5. GDC
6. WePC
7. EEDAR
8. ESA
9. Statista
10. ESA
11. ESA
12. EEDAR
13. GDC
14. GDC
15. Steamspy
16. Statista
17. Superdata
18. Superdata
19. Superdata
20. GDC
21. Superdata
22. Hackernoon
23. Newzoo, Newzoo
24. GDC
25. EEDAR
26. GDC
27. GDC
28. Didyouknowgaming
29. Useless gaming
 30. Didyouknowgaming
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31. GotGame
32. GamespotABOUT US
CONTACT 
33. Cnet

ABOUT AUTHOR

DEYAN G.
I've been fascinated by technology my whole life. From the first Tetris game all the way to Falcon Heavy. So writing
for Techjury is like a dream come true, combining both my passions - writing and technology. In my free time (which
is pretty scarce, thanks to both my sons,) I enjoy traveling and exploring new places. Always with a few chargers and
a couple of gadgets in the backpack. Follow me on Twitter @DeyanGeorgiev87

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