Global online games revenue to touch $17.8 bn by 2024

Online gaming is morphing into one of the fastest-growing economic sectors in the world, bringing in billions of dollars in revenue.

Online games represent the second-largest revenue generator in the gaming market. According to research by GoldenCasinoNews.com, this segment of the gaming industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 1 per cent and garner revenues of $17.8 billion by 2024.

The online games segment refers to multi-player internet gaming as well as casual and social gaming that can be played directly in the net browser or via applications that need to be installed. This part of the gaming market covers subscription-based games such as World of Warcraft, as well as free-to-play games with in-game buys for additional premium content or functionalities such as Fortnite.

In 2019, revenue in the online games segment touched $16.9 billion. A chunk of that amount, or $4.2 billion, was generated in China. The US was the second-largest online gaming revenue generator last year at $3.5 billion. Japan placed third with revenue of $2.8 billion, followed by South Korea and the UK. GoldenCasinoNews.com’s research has the same ranking in the mobile games segment.

The statistics show that the number of online game users worldwide has increased by almost a million during the last three years. In 2019, there were 829 million players globally, with the average revenue per user at $19.54. According to recent surveys, user penetration is expected to hit 13 per cent by 2024, and result in one billion online game players globally.