Video games industry to generate over R1 trillion this year

06 October 2015 - 16:29 By RDM News Wire

The digital games industry is set to generate more than $80-billion (R1.095 trillion) in software revenues this year‚ according to data released by Juniper Research. The figure is expected to rise to $104-billion by the end of 2018. Juniper‚ based in the UK‚ specialises in analysing trends in the mobile and digital tech sectors. The company’s new research report‚ “Worldwide Digital Games Market 2015-2020”‚ is a comprehensive industry report covering the Mobile‚ Tablet‚ PC‚ Console‚ Handheld‚ VR (virtual reality) and Cloud platforms.The report says that the majority of the expected growth will be from contributions made by the PC market‚ which by itself accounted for 42% of games revenues this year. Mobile platforms are expected to account for 35% of market share by 2020‚ while software for games consoles‚ estimated at $21-billion this year‚ is expected to reach $27-billion by 2018.While there have been predictions that the console industry would decline‚ Juniper’s research indicates that the industry will continue to evolve to take advantage of new technological opportunities‚ despite the platform already reaching its 8th generation.According to research author Lauren Foye: “As digital purchases gain favour with consumers‚ we will see a drive in sales during the lifecycle of the current generation of consoles. Newly emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality will aid in consumer adoption‚ as the console continues to evolve to become the core home entertainment centre.”Juniper also expects integration across platforms to boost the console industry‚ with Microsoft’s planned addition of Windows 10 to the Xbox One in November enabling play between PC and Console in the upcoming title‚ Fable Legends.In South Africa gaming is a massive growth area in South African Internet activity.The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) recently released a report on South Africans’ changing Internet use over seven years. The biggest changes in Internet activities between 2007-2014 are:* Instant Messaging – up 2‚166% (40 percent as a proportion of all adults in 2014) * Downloading a podcast – up 1‚596% (three percent of all adults) * Dating – up 1.351% (four percent of all adults) * Games – up 1‚221% (fifteen percent of all adults)Listening to the radio online (up 448%)‚ music downloads (up 451%)‚ accessing current news or articles online (up 357%) and reading a newpaper or magazine online (up 209%)‚ and share trading (up 199%) are also growing in popularity.IRR said it based its data on cellphone connectivity to measure Internet use because this is how a majority of South African adults access the Net. For example‚ some 987‚228 adults used computers or tablets to bank via the Internet in 2014‚ while 2.7 million used cellphones to perform the same task...

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