Gaming is big business these days. You need only look at the acquisitions from Microsoft in snapping up game studios to know that it is by far the most important entertainment genre at the moment and into the future.
Speaking of which, Deloitte TMT has released its latest predictions as regards the 2022 media landscape in South Africa.
There were several interesting predictions laid out by the company, including 150 million paid subscriptions to video streaming platforms being cancelled, but one of the headline grabbing statistics pertain to the SA gaming scene and consoles in particular.
To that end, Deloitte TMT predicts that the market for console gaming in SA could near the R900 million mark in 2023.
“Deloitte Global predicts that the console market will generate US$81 billion in 2022, up 10 percent from 2021. According to Statisa, the value of the gaming console market in South Africa is set to reach R 876 million in 2023, up from R 752 million ten years ago in 2013, after which the market peaked to R 800 million in 2015, then dipped,” the firm noted in a press release sent to Hypertext.
“Revenue per console player, of whom there will be 900 million by the end of the year, is expected to average US$92 per person—substantially more than the projected US$23 per PC gamer and US$50 per mobile gamer,” it added.
Given the frenzy surrounding the perpetually out-of-stock PlayStation 5 locally, for example, it is easy to see why this segment is predicted to grow so sharply.
That said, we do have our concerns over continuing chip and component shortages and how that would impact the aforementioned prediction.
It is something that Deloitte has not forgotten to note, however, adding that, “Chips will remain in short supply next year and some component lead times will stretch into 2023.
With 2023 set to be a big year as far as gaming is concerned, one has to wonder how much of a dampener the pandemic has put on things and what heights could have been reached without it.
You can read Deloitte TMT’s global perspective on gaming consoles, which are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, in full here.
[Image – PlayStation.Blog on Flickr]
