Ускорение самого динамичного сектора медиа-индустрии

Венецианская экспо

Профессиональный SEO-копирайтер и специалист по контенту

Джефф Дрейн, сказал: Это точка сборки для компаний, подобных нашей. У нас есть все студии, которые пытаются подготовить все свои продукты в лучшей форме, чтобы продемонстрировать клиентам, инвесторам, другим компаниям и даже нашим собственным сотрудникам.

В Aristocrat Gaming тоже царит атмосфера волнения, где сотрудники с нетерпением хотят показать шесть игр из своего нового портфеля, лицензированного НФЛ, сказал Райан Скотт, вице-президент коммерческой стратегии.

Производитель игровых автоматов приходит на G2E с новым, предназначенным для продажи контентом, как и в прошлом году, сказал Скотт.

Мы ставили перед собой задачу вернуться и продолжить это в этом году, — сказал он. И вот что мы сделали. Поэтому мы рады показать мощные портфели, инновации — все вышеупомянутое — и это будет действительно захватывающе.

Индустрия гейминга многогранна, сказал Беддис, и выставка отражает это. Участники не только смогут увидеть новейшие игровые автоматы и другое игровое программное обеспечение, но также смогут взаимодействовать с технологическими, платежными, спортивными компаниями и многим другим.

Это действительно место, где вся отрасль сходится, и — по мере роста индустрии — где новые сегменты промышленности приветствуются и просто вступают, — сказала она.

Андрю Кроу, вице-президент по инвестиционным отношениям и инициативам по развитию в компании Sightline Payments в Лас-Вегасе, говорит, что G2E предлагает идеальное время для цифрового провайдера платежей и разработчика мобильных приложений, поскольку он продолжает создавать омниченнел платежный опыт для потребителей казино, которые могут использовать его для траты по всему курортному имуществу.

Даже по мере роста игровой индустрии на национальном и глобальном уровнях, говорит она, энергия Лас-Вегаса продолжает делать его пунктом назначения для игровой выставки, подобной G2E. Его множество развлечений, ресторанов и теперь спорта отличают его от других мест.

Все это действительно продолжает помещать Лас-Вегас еще шире на карту и помогает ему сохранить свое звание развлекательной столицы мира, — сказала она. Так где еще имеет смысл провести G2E, если не здесь, где происходят все эти увлекательные события?.

Это критически важно, чтобы G2E проводился в Лас-Вегасе, потому что это все еще лучший рынок для компаний для запуска своих новых продуктов, проведения маркетинговых исследований и т.д., сказал Дэйв Кубаяк, вице-президент по продажам, маркетингу и операциям в JCM, мировой компании Южного Невады, которая возглавляет отрасль автоматизированных операций — таких как возвращение кредитов после ввода денег в игровой автомат.

<li>Аудитория геймеров быстро расширяется, с участием в игровых мероприятиях все большего числа людей всех возрастов и профессий.</li>
<li>Демографические изменения в сторону молодежи, ориентированной на цифровые технологии, побуждают этот рост, создавая огромный рынок для игрового контента и связанных продуктов.</li>
<li>Правительства также активно поддерживают рост игровой индустрии, создавая возможности для компаний, желающих войти на этот рынок.</li>

Рост игровой индустрии: популярность игр в разных возрастных группах

С одной стороны, рост индустрии игр продолжается с широким аппеляционным аудиториям. Мобильные игры теперь привлекают всех возрастов, особенно в западных рынках. В США игры, которые привлекают поколения X и беби-бумеров (45+), составляют почти 25% от топовых игр по выручке в 2021 году, что на 6% больше, чем в 2019 году. Средний возраст игрока сейчас составляет 31 год.

С другой стороны, дети и молодежь продолжают составлять большую часть аудитории сектора. Поколение Z — первая демографическая группа, которая проводит столько же времени за играми, сколько за просмотром видео-контента. С каждым годом рынок игр будет продолжать расти, поскольку каждый ребенок вносит свой вклад.

Инновации от игроков

Инновации на игровом рынке сильно отличаются от других сегментов медиа, благодаря гораздо более сильному вкладу от потребительских сообществ. Ожидается, что этот тренд будет продолжаться, особенно с платформами, такими как Roblox и Minecraft, которые упрощают разработку игр и инноваций для геймеров.

M&A активность

Игровая индустрия уже имеет высокую степень консолидации, и дальнейшая консолидация ожидается в среднесрочной перспективе по мере приобретения крупными издателями, медиа-компаниями и технологическими фирмами студий и других игровых активов на глобальной шкале. Более 650 сделок по М&A или инвестициям были анонсированы или закрыты в первые шесть месяцев 2022 года.

1. Консолидация разработки игр

   • Для достижения экономии масштабов и поддержки растущих затрат на разработку игр компании по консолидируются. Такой масштаб также облегчает экспериментирование с новыми интеллектуальными свойствами, чтобы обеспечить успех в средне- и долгосрочной перспективе.

2. Расширение внутренних возможностей

   • Поскольку игры становятся все сложнее, издатели игр также стремятся расширить свое присутствие вдоль цепочки создания ценности, особенно в частях, связанных с технологиями, встроенными в игры.

One good example is in-game advertising. As games become even more immersive, lengthen their life cycles, and encourage players to spend more time, it highlights the opportunity to leverage space in PC/console games for advertising. Currently games either do not have ads (mostly AAA PC/console games) or feature pre-agreed product placement. However, new technology can allow personalized advertising in real time, and thus boost games’ advertising revenues (e.g., a billboard in a game can contain actual ad that is personalized to a player). Game engine Unity and app economy developer AppLovin’s attempts to merge with IronSource illustrate this trend. Calcalistech “Unity chooses ironSource merger over AppLovin takeover” Calcalistech “Unity chooses ironSource merger over AppLovin takeover”

Another example is motion tracking and facial animation technologies. As PC/console games rely on these technologies to build an immersive experience, access to advanced and unique solutions is a critical success factor. That is one of the reasons behind game publisher Take-Two Interactive’s acquisition of Dynamixyz, a company focused on cutting-edge facial recognition technology.

New use cases

How do these play together?

Many factors and different dynamics move the gaming market. Microsoft is a one example to look at as we try to imagine the gaming offering of the future. The company is currently building on all the key trends, with the result that:

Its portfolio of assets allows Microsoft to create a single convenient subscription to access all of its offerings at a better value price for the consumer. It also gives Microsoft a "flywheel" with multiple data and income streams increasing the value of its overall offering.

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The Drivers of Global Gaming Growth

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred growth in various media and technology sectors in 2020. Within media, gaming outpaced other segments with an 8% growth rate to reach $198 billion (versus TV’s 1% decline to $408 billion Newzoo, Ovum, Omdia Newzoo, Ovum, Omdia ). The sector’s growth slowed in 2022 for several reasons, including the end of pandemic shutdowns and Apple’s privacy changes affecting mobile gaming ads. The market size dropped to $184.4 billion Newzoo "The Global Gaming Market Per Segment 2022” Newzoo "The Global Gaming Market Per Segment 2022” , with mobile gaming accounting for 50% of revenues.

The Middle East is a unique market for gaming. Governments in the GCC region have invested heavily in the industry and recognized its potential, implementing strategies to attract gaming companies. In Saudi Arabia, a National Gaming and Esports Strategy plans to create 40,000 jobs and develop 30 games by 2030, while in the UAE, AD Gaming and DMCC Gaming Center aim to attract global businesses and support local talent.

Growth Drivers in Mobile

The mobile gaming industry has experienced significant growth in recent years, with the widespread adoption of smartphones and the increasing power of mobile computing. And PC/console game publishers are actively investing in this trend. Factors contributing to this growth include:

Unique market conditions are accelerating mobile segment growth in the Middle East. With half its population under 25 years old and tech-savvy, these countries require localized content. For example, Chinese publisher Tencent deployed an Arabic version of the Battle Royale game (PUBG Mobile) in the region. It is now one of the most popular games in the Middle East Entrepreneur “The Middle East is Key for Gaming” Entrepreneur “The Middle East is Key for Gaming” (top-5 in mobile app downloads in Saudi Arabia and top-3 in UAE ).

Looking Forward

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft said: “Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms. We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community, and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first.” Microsoft News “Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone, across every device” Microsoft News “Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone, across every device”

Gaming has been on the rise and is destined to outperform other sectors in the media industry in the next decade. And while gaming is itself evolving quickly, it will also shape other media and technology sectors due to its:

As part of BCG’s series of gaming reports, our next report will focus on Esports, an important part of the sector that is revolutionizing the way consumers engage with video games.

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Publishers Adapt to New Trends

With such dynamic changes in the industry, game publishers and developers are adjusting their strategies.

New Business Models

Innovation in the mobile market incentivized publishers to explore new monetization methods, in particular "free-to-play" with in-game monetization instead of upfront purchase. Electronic Arts released its flagship shooter franchise Battlefield with a free-to-play version called 2042.

The potential to extend the life cycle of their titles through new content and in-game purchases makes this shift attractive compared to developing completely new games every few years. However, publishers must carefully design monetization to ensure it supports the game and its community, not harm it with:

Growth in Gaming Budgets

Considering the variety demanded by core players, it is not realistic for publishers to shift to few games with longer life cycles in near future. Instead, hundreds of high-profile AAA games are released each year, though only a handful of those have budgets at the level of GTA V or Cyberpunk 2077.

While this model expands opportunities to generate a return on investment over a longer shelf life, major games still require large upfront investment and long development periods, which can delay cash inflows for several years.

Competition for Popular IP

Over last decades major IP franchises have created active, loyal communities. As with comics two decades ago, the movie industry noticed this trend and has turned to gaming IP as a source for new content (Exhibit 6). In return, this provides an opportunity for game publishers to extend the community for their games and attract new audiences. Beyond movies, publishers are also leveraging gaming IP in other segments like amusement parks, toys, and retail. These further strengthen the connection with IP fans and benefit the games.

Changing Gamer Preferences

While PC/console and mobile experiences are different, they have started slowly converging. Mobile devices can now offer very high-quality graphics and gaming experiences, while smartphone evolution increasingly reflects and enables the sophisticated gameplay that was previously available on PC/console only. Also, as smartphones are tailored to communication, mobile games can integrate social gaming features better than PC/console.

This has led to more popular PC/console (though mostly PC) titles being adapted to mobile, including leading games like League of Legends (LoL – mobile version is LoL Wild Rift), Call of Duty (CoD Mobile), Diablo (Diablo Immortal). Some leading games are even going with mobile first (e.g., PUBG). And many titles initially released on PC or consoles, such as Minecraft, FIFA, Genshin Impact, and even Fortnite are experiencing resounding success on mobile. Another example is Square Enix, which acquired Eidos and reimagined popular games like Hitman, Tomb Raider, and Deus Ex by releasing IP-driven mobile puzzle games.

However, true convergence resulting in cross-play is still far from being fully implemented. While it can be easily realized in some game genres (e.g., the collectible card video game (CCG) Hearthstone), it is difficult to ensure the same experience for shooters or RPGs whose gameplay is heavily optimized for PC. An additional challenge for cross-platform development is the need to optimize a game for an increasing number of devices. Dirox “Mobile Games Trends and Business Opportunities” Dirox “Mobile Games Trends and Business Opportunities” While publishers try to solve both challenges, it will likely take 5 years or more to reach full convergence.

What About the PC/Console Market?

Despite mobile being the top-line driver of the gaming market, it does not mean that the PC/console is in decline. Core gamers still prefer playing on PC/console as games are more immersive and complex.

Constantly improving visual and game content and leveraging popular IP (e.g., the recent Hogwarts Legacy) have traditionally formed the heart of gaming’s strong appeal to a young audience. Today there is an additional growth factor for PC/console market – the rise of game streaming as separate content, run by both professional players and casual gamers.

Game streaming is why popular titles like LoL or Fortnite stay relevant for the community as it allows interaction with top streamers. Game publishers also reward those who watch streams with “drops” – giveaways of unique digital items to people who watch a stream for a certain time. Both elements incentivize people to watch their favorite streams and strengthens their commitment to the game.

China is expected to remain the largest market for live streaming audiences (forecast CAGR of 7.6% from 2020 to 267.5 million people by 2025 NewZoo: “Gaming’s Live-Streaming Audience Will Hit 1.4 Billion by 2025” NewZoo: “Gaming’s Live-Streaming Audience Will Hit 1.4 Billion by 2025” ). However, the overall growth comes from Middle East & North Africa. The audience for live-streaming games in these markets is expected to increase with 24.5% CAGR reaching 202.3 million by 2025.

Gamers on PC/Console vs. Mobile

The gaming sector is expanding and changing, which makes the definition of a “gamer” more nuanced. While mobile dominates the gaming market, the split of revenue across different platforms does not always match the preferences of the core global gaming community. According to a BCG survey of 10,000 participants from 10 countries, most core gamers primarily play on PC and console. This is because only PC/console games enable high-engagement AAA titles, demanding more player’s focus and dedication.

However mobile games absorb twice as many hours per week as PC/console games, and the mobile gaming market is more diverse (Exhibit 2). It attracts casual players who enjoy “time killer” games like Candy Crush but may not identify themselves as "gamers." Nevertheless, these casual players contribute substantially to the growth of the mobile gaming market.

Authors

Dr. Alexander Schudey

Managing Director & Partner

Managing Director & Senior Partner

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