Gaming is serious business
If you ask me, one of the reasons why we live is to play games. I don’t mean just digital games but sports, interactions between peers verbal games, etc. To play games makes you happy, fills you up with good vibes. It makes you feel alive and connects you to each other and the world.
It is also good business. In fact, it is one of the top businesses to be in. According to Venturebeat.com, game sales are to reach $113 billion in 2018, while about three-quarters of all revenues this year will be digital.
China will take over as the world’s top game market this year, according to the 2015 Global Games Market Report by analyst firm Newzoo.
The company predicts $22.2 billion in sales this year in the Asian country, versus $22 billion in the United States. That gap will widen over the next three years, Newzoo chief executive Peter Warman said, with China reaching $32.8 billion and the more-stable U.S. games market hovering at $24.1 billion.
This year, 49 percent of the $9.9 billion U.S. console gaming market will come from digital sales, Warman said, with 83 percent of the $4.2 billion PC and massive multiplayer sales occurring online.
Combined, the two markets are 72 percent digital in the United States, compared to China’s 97 percent. (Worldwide, that figure is 78 percent or $70.9 billion.)
With digital marking the majority of sales, players are demanding increasingly to create content for and modify their favorite games.
Newzoo also expects e-sports to have an increasing impact on overall game sales, which will help push the games industry over the $200 billion mark within five years through hardware, digital media, event, and merchandising revenue.
Turkey is nowhere near the top of the development revenue charts. However, we spend a lot of time playing games. It is estimated that 39 million hours are spent gaming on a daily basis in Turkey. Turkey comes first in the social game category with an average of a 38.4-minute game sessions per player.
Turkey always ranks in the top three when it comes to time spent playing games.
In terms of worldwide revenues, however, it is always in between the 18th and 25th place.
Lying in the gap between time spent and local business revenues is a huge potential for the gaming industry. I myself will bet on Turkish gaming industry by founding a company soon. I highly recommend international investors to look into this market as well.
There are already worldwide successes, such as the Crysis producer Crytek and the world’s leading digital board games producer, Peak Games. However, it is not nearly enough. I would like to see private initiatives enter this market without waiting for state sponsorship.