Gaming is booming, so subscribe our newsletter to explore it

“The healthy human mind doesn’t wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day on Earth. But I think that’s a luxury, not a curse. To know you’re close to the end is a kind of freedom. Good time to take… inventory.”

This is one of the most famous and inspirational quotes from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. A quote that to some extent shows the influence of video games over those who play them, but at the same time, it is an example of how video games have truly penetrated our modern life.

In the ICT sector, if there is an industry that is revolutionizing how telecom and data center operators, cloud gaming providers and over the top (OTT) players do business, is the gaming sector. Whether you are a fan - or not - of Fortnite, Call of Duty, Minecraft, Marvel games, Super Mario, the list is endless…, it is undeniable that this is a market that cannot afford high latency times and downtime.

As the opportunity across Asia-Pacific, and indeed the world, grows for the segment, we are going launch a series of blogs and newsletters to explore more how the gaming market is changing and influencing the whole IT ecosystem, and how edge computing will cement what is one of the most popular forms of online entertainment in history. But first things first…

How many video gamers would you say there are in the world? The figure you are probably thinking is far off from the reality of what has become one of the largest money makers in the current digital economy.

In total, there are in 2020 just about 2.6 billion gamers, up from 2019’s 2.47 billion. According to Newzoo and Statista, this number has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9%, with 2021 projected to boost as many as 2.73 billion gamers.

This growth is fuelled by booming revenues that are this year expected to reach US$165 billion. This compares to 2019’s $148 billion, of which 43% of market earnings were generated in the APAC region.

China accounts to the largest number of players at 640 million gamers and consequently, it generates the highest earnings which in 2019 amounted to $36.5 billion.

However, the USA follows suit, with revenues amounting to $35.5 billion. Interestingly, although the revenues are “just” one billion Dollars apart, the US has five times less players than China, summing up 164 million gamers.

These two are followed – in order – by Japan, South Korea. Germany, the UK, France, Canada, Spain and Italy. Those are the top ten largest video game markets on the planet, according to Newzoo.

The demand is there, and there are no signs of it slowing down any time soon. Just as an example, Fortnite relies on 12 AWS data centers with 24 availability zones to ensure the game stays ON for its millions of users.

And there’s more. World of Warcraft reportedly utilizes as many as 17 data centers. The game produces 100 gigabytes of data every second! This is a crazy amount of data produced by a single game in a sea of thousands of choices.

To put it into perspective, General Electric says that each of its aircraft engines produces around one terabyte of data per flight. One terabyte is equivalent to about 1,000 gigabytes. So it takes roughly ten seconds for gamers enjoying World of Warcraft to create as much data as a GE plane engine creates per flight. And we are yet still at the beginning of mass adoption of technologies like virtual and augmented reality. Mind blowing!

It is therefore critical that gaming solution providers – like HGC, work in close partnership with content delivery networks (CDNs), cloud service providers and a wide range of other players including mobile device platforms and others to reach and answer the needs of their fast expanding community of gamers.

Accelerating factors that are also driving the gaming market to new records include 5G, artificial intelligence, edge computing and to an extent, even the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced billions of people to stay at home. And what easier thing than jumping on a game or two when home…?

As you can see, and I have only scratched the surface with what you just read, gaming is a fascinating and exciting market that requires the highest caliber of service provision.

Here at HGC, we are a platform that combines different services including IP Transit, edge data centers, connectivity, managed services and more, to really allow these gaming brands to grow and reach the masses.I will be exploring over the next few months how the gaming sector is evolving, and how best we can all support its expansion.

To make sure you get the latest information I collect and publish, please feel free to subscribe our weekly newsletter in the form below.

If you wish to explore how HGC and we can help you expand your capabilities to handle the growing needs of cloud-based gaming, feel free to drop me a direct email on marcello.brescia@hgc.com.hk or connect me via LinkedIn.