Cloud gaming statistics 2021 [latest stats & forecast]
Last updated: January 11, 2021
Playing games is something humanity has always done. There are the emblematic chess and backgammon; there are board games and card games, puzzles and Legos. And of course, there’s the UNIVERSE of video games. What is the best way to play a video game in 2021? Our selection of the latest cloud gaming statistics will show us where things are going with video games these days.
One thing is certain: playing video games is closer to us than ever. It’s not only mobile gaming, which is HUGE, of course. We’re talking cloud gaming. Today, TechACake.com will lead the way inside the labyrinth of statistics and facts about the cloud gaming industry.
We’ve got the torch so… follow us. And if you stumble upon anything in the dark, it must be the controller of a fellow gamer. Don’t look back!
Cloud gaming statistics 2021
Cross-platform gaming is trendy and accessible. The potential of cloud gaming is so huge we can hardly imagine the future without it anymore. Today, we can turn any smart device into a gaming platform thanks to the cloud and to the latest technologies, of course.
Without further ado, here’s the state of things in 2021.
(Number 6 will surprise you!)
1. In 2020, the cloud gaming market value has reached $0.58 billion.
(Source: Statista)
In 2020, there are already 3 billion people who play video games. The gaming industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world right now and there is a good reason for that.
With modern graphics anything is possible — have you seen what a list of the most anticipated video games of 2021 looks like? State of the art visuals. (Who wouldn’t like to drive a fictional car across a breathtaking scenery?) People of all ages are going into gaming. Why? Simple: video games are getting more and more awesome-looking and more and more people want in. And of course, one of the easiest ways to play a video game nowadays is on the cloud.
Image © TechAcute
2. The global cloud gaming market is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 47.9%.
(Source: Grand View Research)
The global cloud ecosystem is gaining momentum. The higher consumer spending rate might be due to the fact that people spent a lot of time at home in 2020 and well… they played some video games. (This is for sure one of the favorite pass-time activities of humanity since the very beginning: the Big Bang.) During the lockdown, video gaming revenue went up drastically.
3. Back in 2018, the global cloud gaming content subscription market was worth $234 million.
(Source: Statista)
According to the cloud gaming forecast for the next three years, the cloud gaming subscription market will be worth 6 times more by 2023. Cloud gaming gained momentum in the past few years. However, what really made a huge difference was 5G integration. And of course, let’s not forget the new emerging cloud gaming services.
4. In 2019, only 22% of Americans claimed they were very familiar with the concept of cloud gaming.
(Source: Statista)
More than 164 million American adults played video games in 2019. This is around 65% of the US population. However, the numbers of cloud gaming awareness will definitely rise since there are so many services that launched in the recent past (e.g. Google Stadia and Amazon Luna). Let’s face it: video streaming and cloud gaming are the trends of the future.
Now, are PCs going to become the smallest gaming platform in 2021? Many large corporations have invested in cloud gaming services. There’s Amazon Luna and Google Stadia. Even Walmart is thinking about launching a cloud gaming project. Gaming-as-a-service is what the new era of gaming looks like.
5. In 2020, only 23% of the global games market per device belonged to PC games.
(Source: Newzoo)
Almost 50% of the gaming revenue for 2020 came from mobile. That’s $77.2 billion. According to the latest gaming trends mobile is becoming the new favorite gaming console for almost half of the gaming community out there.
Smartphones adoption is a huge factor in 2020. Many cloud gamers use their smartphones as their primary gaming device. Turning your device into gaming hardware is what cloud gaming is all about. And of course, smartphones are coming ahead as the leading gaming platform this year.
6. In 2020, 55,43% of the global video game revenue was generated by smartphones.
(Source: Statista)
Image © Statista
The amazing $63.6 billion of the total global video game market came from smartphones. This is more than 55% of the total video game revenue for 2020. This number includes mobile games, in-game purchases, cloud gaming services and more.
Cloud gaming market size 2021
What does the future hold for the cloud gaming industry? Let’s see:
7. In 2020, the cloud gaming market size value is $0.47 billion.
(Source: Grand View Research)
And this is just the beginning. The share of cloud gaming on the overall video gaming global revenue is still not very impressive in 2020. In the US alone, 2020 brought a total video game revenue of $60.4 billion.
8. 36% of the cloud gaming market size growth originates from the US.
(Source: Technavio)
Cloud gaming is most popular in the US and China.However, Asia Pacific is the region with the highest cloud gaming growth rate. Have a look:
Image © Mordor intelligence
9. The cloud gaming market will grow with $2.4 billion YoY between 2020 and 2024.
(Source: Technavio)
Cloud gaming will cast a large shadow (in the form of a joystick!) over PC gaming and console in the years to come. Gamers all over the world would surely choose to play a variety of games on the cloud with a monthly subscription over an expensive PC or console with even more expensive games.
Cloud gaming forecasts: the future of cloud gaming
With the advancements of the 5G network, video gaming became even more accessible. According to the latest 5G statistics, in Q1 2020, there were 378 cities in the world with 5G connection. And this is only the beginning! Introducing the new mobile network was a game changer for cloud gaming. The high-performance connection will bring the future of cloud gaming even closer to us.
Image © Reply
Also, the growing smartphone penetration is rising the demand for entertainment on a global level. And having in mind that cloud gaming prices are accessible, many smartphone owners prefer to spend several dollars for a cloud gaming monthly subscription over investing money they don’t have in a gaming console or a PC.
The price of individual games for PlayStation or Xbox is another reason to prefer cloud gaming services. Spending hundreds of dollars on a single game for a console feels like a luxury in 2020.
10. According to the latest cloud gaming stats, by 2023, the cloud gaming market will be worth $4.8 billion.
(Source: Newzoo)
Two things are for sure: video games are a billion-dollar business and cloud gaming is the future. In 2020, we witnessed an increase of user engagement during the coronavirus pandemic as well as an increase of cloud gaming popularity. (Who knows, maybe in the next five years cloud gaming will become the new black.)
11. By 2022, China’s cloud gaming market is expected to quadruple in size.
(Source: China South Morning Post)
The cloud gaming market is supposed to reach $565 million by 2022 because of the rapid deployment of the 5G network in the country. In 2020, the cloud gaming market in China is worth $141 million.
The cloud gaming in China is definitely on the rise. The cloud gaming service by the tech giant Tencent, Instant Play is already announced. Also, Tencent and Huawei are building a cloud gaming platform together, and we’re looking forward to it.
12. By 2023, cloud gaming will generate more than $134 million in Japan.
(Source: Statista)
Weekends or weekdays — we all love spending some quality video gaming time. And the Japanese are no exception. In fact, video game addiction is progressing in Japan and cloud gaming seems to be the next favorite thing on the island. Spending hours playing video games is what many Japanese can’t stay away from.
13. By the end of 2023, the global cloud gaming content subscription market will be worth $1.5 billion.
(Source: Statista)
Cloud gaming subscriptions are affordable and many gamers choose to pay for one instead of the newest gaming platforms which cost hundreds of dollars. A cloud gaming subscription is between $5.99/mo and $10/mo.
For example, Google Stadia was released in November 2019. By April 2020, the platform already had 1 million users. Streaming any video game for this monthly price is what more and more users will subscribe for in the future.
Conclusion
The deployment of the new 5G mobile network was huge for cloud gaming and took things to the next level. Faster streaming equals more cloud game subscribers in the future.
According to the latest cloud gaming statistics, streaming games is becoming more and more popular, just like streaming movies and TV shows. Cloud gaming is affordable and enables the user to stream a game from their smartphone or tablet, laptop or Smart TV. Cloud gaming statistics predict a bright future for video gaming on the cloud, with more subscribers every year.
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Enjoy cloud gaming, everybody!
Sources
- Statista
- Grand View Research
- Statista
- Statista
- Newzoo
- Statista
- Grand View Research
- Technavio
- Technavio
- Newzoo
- China South Morning Post
- Statista
- Statista
