The evolution and investment potential of the video game industry

Since the 1980s, the video game industry has undergone an evolution that began with the much acclaimed Arcade machine, which in 1990 migrated to a computer where the classic solitaire card game was played on Windows 3.0.

Later, with the arrival of the new century and the generational change, several companies launched innovative consoles that made the love for video games skyrocket; this, hand in hand with characters and stories that have crossed the barriers of the gamer world becoming icons of popular culture and an artistic expression of the first order.

Today, users who did not used to be part of the gamer world spend hours playing various games that are just a click away from their cell phones, which they can download or watch directly through Facebook, a platform that has become a favorite for many users.

As we can see, the industry has changed so much over the last two decades that it is difficult to predict what video games will be like in the future, what is clear is that they will go hand in hand with technological innovation, so investing in video games will also mean investing in other subsectors such as e-sports, augmented reality and virtual reality.

The outlook in Latin America

According to Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report 2020, the five Latin American markets that generated the most money in the video game industry total almost 5 billion dollars. The top 5 countries in the region with the highest revenues in this area are: Mexico (1,901 million dollars), Brazil (1,754 million), Argentina (507 million), Colombia (417 million) and Chile (308 million).

In Mexico, the number of gamers reached 72.3 million at the end of last year. These figures are equivalent to 57.4% of the country’s total population and represent an increase of 5.5% with respect to 2019, according to data from The Competitive Intelligence Unit (CIU).

The main form of video gaming in the country is through smartphones, which exceed 117 million devices, which has facilitated accessibility for people who were previously alien to that form of entertainment. Meanwhile, fixed consoles are the second most preferred, with 20% of the total number of users, but generate the highest income for the industry, since a gamer makes an average investment of 305 dollars for the purchase of a console and about 41 dollars per game.

Other devices of lesser predilection, but equally useful for gamers are: tablets (8 percent preference), computer (6 percent) and portable consoles (4 percent). In this sense, although there are different preferences influenced by the particular characteristics of each user, they all coincide in the growing interest and consumption of video games.

The industry in the world

Video games generated a total of $159 billion worldwide, a 9.3% growth over 2019. According to Newzoo, that figure is part of revenues from various platforms, including consoles, video game sales, online subscriptions and other digital services.

Thus, games for mobile devices account for a large part of the sector, representing 40% of the industry’s earnings (about US$63,000), and a 15.8% growth compared to the previous year. Consoles, meanwhile, collected 45,000 million dollars, generating 28% of total earnings and a growth of 6.8 percent.

It is evident that more and more people are deciding to add video games to their forms of entertainment, which is why this market is registering continuous growth, reaffirming its position as one of the sectors with the greatest contribution to the global productive apparatus.