The COVID-19 continues driving an impressive growth of the entire gaming market, with millions of people who turn to console and gaming titles amid the lockdown.

According to data presented by SafeBettingSites.com, the combined gaming revenues of China, the United States, and Japan, as the three largest gaming markets globally, are expected to hit $98bn in 2021, $26bn more than before the pandemic.

Chinese Gaming Industry Surged by 46% Amid Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe, people are spending more time and money on games to fill the empty hours of lockdown. According to a Statista survey, the global gaming industry is expected to hit $154.6bn value this year, 2.5 times the music industry revenues and 4.5 times the box office revenues.

As the world’s largest gaming market, China is set to generate the lion’s share of that value. Statistics show that the Chinese gaming revenues are set to reach $49.3bn in 2021, or 46% more compared to pre-COVID-19 figures. As the market’s largest revenue stream, mobile games are expected to generate $41.4bn in revenue this year or 83% of China’s combined gaming revenues. Online games and download games follow, with $5.6bn and $1.8bn, respectively.

The Statista data also show the number of gamers in China surged by 131.5 million amid the COVID-19 pandemic, rising from 648.4 million in 2019 to 780 million in 2021. The mobile games segment witnessed the most impressive growth, with the number of users jumping from 450 million to 563 million in this period.

US Gaming Revenues Jumped by $7.3B in Two Years

The United States, as the second-largest gaming industry globally, is expected to hit $30.3bn in gaming revenues this year, $7.3bn or 31% more than before the pandemic.

This impressive growth was also fueled by the surge of mobile games. In 2019, the entire segment generated $15.2bn in revenue, with more than 136 million Americans playing mobile games. Statistics show the US mobile games industry is expected to hit a $20.5bn value this year, with the number of users reaching almost 156 million. The entire video games market in the country is forecast to hit nearly 257 million users this year.

As the third-largest gaming market globally, Japan is forecast to generate $18.2bn in revenue in 2021, a 23% increase in two years. Mobile games are expected to account for almost 70% of that value, or $12.4bn.

However, unlike the other two leading markets, Japan is expected to witness a modest growth in the number of gamers. Last year, 95 million people in the country played video games, up from 88.9 million in 2019. Statistics show this figure is expected to rise to 97.4 million in 2021.