Gaming Emerging in New Markets

One of the fastest growing markets in the world is certainly being found within gaming across all platforms – esports is helping to launch widespread success in the PC gaming market which had typically been much smaller and more niche, the new consoles will entertain a slightly more casual fanbase, and mobile continues to lead the way for the majority as mobile gaming continues to reach a much wider audience than ever before.

(Image from sigma.com.mt)

Much of this success largely comes from changing attitudes toward gaming – audiences that may not have otherwise been interested have since had the opportunity to play a growing number of different genres on their mobile device, with fast and easy access and little restriction, there are now more opportunities than before – many of the favourite genres are presenting themselves in familiarity too, particularly with the rise of the likes of online casinos and betting sites here which have typically help a slightly older audience, although that is since changing too.

The biggest success are starting to be found in emerging markets where mobile use is certainly on the rise – regions like Nigeria which have a much lower mean age amongst the population are more likely to try out gaming anyway, and will be the primary audience for the growing smartphone market in the region, but with a desire to explore all things tech and the new opportunities that come with it, there’s little resistance to get mobile gaming in particular moving forward, and no delay in new players moving to the growing number of services made available.

That isn’t to say the emerging markets aren’t growing without challenge, however, as there’s certainly some issues to overcome. The first will be within connection, some markets like Nigeria still have expensive deals tied to data and often lower data availability, this means that to even access the games there’s an additional cost that many in existing markets are less likely to be concerned about and is an issue to overcome first. Secondly,  with little to no existing regulation in the space, there’s nothing in place to protect players, and with much of the audience being much younger or newer to mobile gaming as a whole, there are many ways win which advantage can be taken – although other countries have already set out a blueprint for success, that isn’t to say it would work everywhere, and unique solutions may be needed.

Either way, it’s an exciting time for the newer audiences, gaming has come a long way particularly on mobile and there’s a lot of excitement to be found, with some good planning and a strategy moving forward, the opportunities are seemingly endless as the entire world continues to look toward mobile gaming as the future.