🔎Market Outlook
The gaming industry, including digital and tabletop games segments, seems to be one of the most thriving markets today. Games perform many functions, such as being an entertainment method, a way to communicate, to manage stress and many others. This outlook contains insights on 2 segments of this industry, as Pixudi is situated between them: the tabletop game industry and digital games industry.
Tabletop Games Industry
The board games market has been steadily growing worldwide after seeing a mild decline in 2010-s. In 2019 and 2020 the industry revenues grew significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic having people around the world stay at home for months. Families quarantining together were rediscovering board games which caused the demand for them to be particularly strong during this period.
Along with the pandemic, there are other reasons for a surge in demand. The following trends, which are expected to continue and expand in the coming years, stand behind it:
Expansion of e-commerce platforms made it easy and convenient to find, choose and buy games;
Adoption of board games in game bars and cafes and advent of specialized board game cafes worldwide;
Cost effectiveness: tabletop games are inexpensive in comparison to other entertainment methods such as movies, amusement parks, festivals, etc.;
Great variety and increasing quality of modern tabletop games;
Growth of the organized retail sector in developing countries;
The increasing popularity of various types of table-top games among the millennial population globally.
Apparently, there are also factors that restrain the market growth such as:
Volatile prices of raw materials;
Increasing labor cost;
Disrupted supply chains because of COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine war;
Counterfeit board games.
To understand the market better we need to explore its structure. The industry giants are well known to many of us:
Hasbro Inc. (US)
Asmodee (France)
Mattel Inc. (US)
Ravensburger AG (Germany)
Goliath B.V. (Netherlands)
Grand Prix International (Thailand)
Buffalo Games (US)
Grand Prix International (Thailand)
Lifestyle Boardgames Ltd. (Russia)
Korea Boardgames Co. Ltd. (South Korea)
However, the industry is not driven by key players only; small companies also constitute a robust driving force. As of June 15, 2022 ‘Tabletop games’ section on Kickstarter contains over 33,400 projects and about 63% of them raised >100% of their goal.
According to the survey conducted by PrintNinja, the majority of respondents, 57%, own between 1 and 25 board and card games, while 22% have between 26 and 50. Next up, 5.9% own between 76 and 100 games, while 4.2% of people own between 51 and 75 games. And, an impressive 10.9% own more than 100.
If we look closer at the number of games respondents purchase each year, in the past year, the majority of gamers (41%) purchased five to ten new games or expansions. Just under a quarter (24%) purchased 11 or more, with 27% of that group having purchased more than 30. Approximately 35% of respondents purchased four or fewer.
What do these figures translate to in terms of dollars spent on new games? Let’s take a look. Here’s what the respondents spent on new games:
As you can see, the majority of consumers are willing to put out the money for games they think they’ll enjoy.
Places where people usually play tabletop games were also explored and, according to the survey results, the majority of respondents (40%) play at home most often. Local game stores were a close runner-up, with a third of respondents playing here. The third-most common answer was someone else’s house, with 4% playing elsewhere.
In terms of frequency, most respondents (43%) are able to fit gameplay into their schedules at least a few times per week. That left 25% who play once per week, while 17% play two to three times per month. Roughly 6% of enthusiasts are dedicated enough to play daily, while another 6% can only squeeze in one session per month. 3% play less frequently than that.
Digital Games Industry
Online gaming market appeared decades ago, and since then has grown into a huge industry. The market has been steadily growing over the past five years in particular, and it was estimated that more than one out of three people on Earth - over 2.9 billion human beings - played a digital game in 2021. At the time, the market revenue exceeded $193.4 billion in comparison to $151.9 billion in 2019 and $93.6 billion in 2016. The industry was underpinned by favourable demographics with more female gamers participating, its community-building nature as well as evolving technology attracting more and more categories of users.
In 2018-2019 the industry saw a sharp rise in demand for free-to-play games fueled by connectivity and access to media transforming the market. Multiple projects, stunned by a huge success of games like Fortnite and Pokémon GO, quickly switched to free-to-play business model which helped them to attract a healthy influx of new players and take a stable market position. As of 2022, this trend still continues, and 85% of the video gaming industry revenue comes from free-to-play games.
Pixudi is based on a combination of 2 business models: Free-to-Play and Play2Earn
Just like the tabletop games industry, digital games market saw a significant boost in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic forced most people all over the world to stay at home and drastically change their socializing and entertainment habits. Tabletop games gained popularity with families staying together 24/7 during the lockdown as a way to manage stress and bond with the loved ones. At the same time, people had to reach out to remote activities in order to interact with their friends and families who could not join them in person. Online multiplayer games became a great way to stay in touch.
Not only gaming mechanics are valuable for users, but they also appreciate the ability to express themselves by customizing gaming locations, changing their avatars, choosing their teammates and competitors. Communication is also an important part to it - gamers value voice chats, gift/reward exchange, map sharing and other activities.
In Pixudi, players can change their avatars/characters, choose boards to play on, play with random people or with their friends, exchange gifts, and much more.
However, not only did engagement skyrocket as consumers stayed at home, but the industry pivoted to ensure it was doing everything it could to keep consumers engaged. Branded crossover events, virtual concerts and celebrity influencer participations all fueled a groundswell that shows no signs of receding. Noteworthy, many consumers say they’re spending more time engaging via their mobile devices despite global mobility restrictions throughout the year.
Pixudi is mobile-friendly
What does an average gamer look like? According to a study by the Entertainment Software Association, 70% of gamers are 18 years old and older, and Filmora Wondershare found that 46% of worldwide gamers are at least 36 years old. The average age of a female gamer is 34, and her male counterpart is 32. 46% of gamers are female and 54% are male.
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