The surge in mobile gaming drives the growth of the global gaming industry reaching a value of over $300 billion, according to the new report by Accenture, a global professional services company with capabilities in digital, cloud, and security, titled “Gaming: the new superplatform.” The gaming industry added 500 million new and more diverse gamers over the past three years totaling 2.7 billion people globally.

“The emergence of new gaming platforms and changing demographics are pushing gaming businesses away from being product-centric to becoming experience-oriented platforms,” said Seth Schuler, managing director, Accenture’s Software & Platforms industry group. “The industry must balance the needs of its newest adopters, who care more deeply about their online interactions, with the expectations of gaming loyalists who remain the industry’s most lucrative customers.”

The lockdowns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic both amplified the gamers’ appetite for video games and created nouveau gamers. The report found many of the gamers found solace in interacting with fellow gamers ramping up social interaction as one of the reasons people turn to video games.

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The Accenture survey found gamers are spending an average of 16 hours a week playing, eight hours a week watching or participating in game streams, and six hours a week interacting in game forums and communities. About 3 in 4 gamers indicate they expect online gaming to become a larger part of their gaming experience in the future.

Gamers’ profile

The gaming industry is yet to reach a plateau as the Accenture report predicts more than 400 million new gamers are expected to add to the existing figures by the end of 2023.

Interestingly, the profiles of new joiners are also evolving with 60% women, 30% are under 25 years old, and one-third identify as non-white. Whereas respondents who identified as longtime gamers are 61% male, 79% over 25 years old, and 76% identifying as white.

The research is based on data collected via an online survey with 4,000 consumers who spend at least four hours per week playing video games. The sample is evenly distributed across four countries: China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The findings are part of a three-part series looking at the changing faces of gaming, from the industry’s overall growth to its challenges and opportunities ahead.