Be it the rising adoption rate of eSports, the transmedial qualities of video game properties like League of Legends or Castlevania or simply the success of the newest entries to long-running gaming franchises like Pokémon, FIFA, Resident Evil or Mario Kart: 2021 was a stellar year for video games, with total revenues inching closer to $200 billion. $127 billion, more than half of the total, was generated by ten companies alone, a year-on-year growth of ten percent according to analysts at Newzoo. As our chart based on data aggregated by the market research firm shows, Tencent was the biggest earner this past year, although its competition is starting to gain speed.
In 2021 alone, Tencent generated approximately $32.2 billion with its various video game properties, among them domestic hits like the MOBA Honor of Kings and international titles like Clash Royale and League of Legends. The latter of which most likely profited off of the Netflix series Arcane which gave mainstream audiences an in into the gaming universe. As Newzoo analyst Michiel Buijsman points out, Sony and Nintendo couldn't build on their 2020 success due to their console-first focus and the supply chain issues concerning electronics. While the Japanese gaming mainstay saw a revenue increase of only 1.9 percent, Sony's gaming revenue actually went down by 2.3 percent.
Microsoft, which was outperformed by Tencent, Sony and Apple, will very likely rise through the ranks if its acquisition of Activision Blizzard King is successful. If the merger had already happened in 2021, the combined revenues of the two companies generated with video games would have bumped the corporation to second place with $21 billion. Activision Blizzard has been in the spotlight over the last couple of months due to strikes at its subsidiary Raven Software, resulting in the establishment of the first union at major game development studio, and allegations of toxic office culture including sexual harassment and workplace abuse.
The wave of consolidation in the video game market is likely to continue in 2022 and beyond, with Electronic Arts apparently looking to sell, Sony acquiring original Halo and current Destiny 2 developer Bungie and Embracer Group bringing a slew of Western game franchises from Square Enix into their fold.
According to Newzoo forecasts, the video game market will generate $203.1 billion in revenues worldwide in 2022, with the Asia-Pacific region as the main playing field with a revenue share of 47 percent, followed by North America with 27 percent and Europe with 18 percent.
