Global Gaming Study: More Gamers Spending More Money During Covid Lockdowns, Which Publishers Will Win (Simon-Kucher)

Summary

• The study found a permanent 21 percent increase in monthly spend by gamers, an 11 percent increase in time spent gaming, and a 42 percent increase in video game streaming.§1
• Prior to COVID, experts forecasted that 2020's global games market would generate revenues of $159.3 billion, year-on-year growth of 9.3 percent.§1
• In May and June of 2020, Simon-Kucher surveyed more than 13,000 representative consumers, identifying nearly 5,000 gamers.§2
• There was a 39 percent increase in the amount consumers spent monthly on games during May and June versus pre-COVID-19, expected to stay elevated at 21 percent.§3
• The share of gamers and serious gamers among all gamers went from 49 percent to 64 percent, and is expected to settle at 58 percent.§3
• 60 percent of all gamers surveyed said they are playing different game types during lockdown, and 60 percent said they are playing more multiplayer games.§4
• 81 percent of respondents are watching more gaming streams during lockdowns, and 23 percent began to stream for the first time.§5

Key insights

1. Experts expect the global games market to exceed $200 billion by the end of 2023.§1
2. 17 percent of non-gamers and casual gamers became gamers or serious gamers during May and June.§3
3. Publishers that best use microtransactions and subscriptions are the most obvious beneficiaries of higher playing time and spend.§3
4. The biggest increases were in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games like League of Legends and Battle Royale games such as Fortnite.§4
5. Twitch users watched five billion hours in total from April to June 2020, an increase of 63 percent from the first quarter.§5
6. The biggest group of streaming users in the study was the age group 25-44.§5
7. Publishers need to balance acquisition, monetization and retention to become future leaders of the gaming industry.§6