Southeast Asia Gaming Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Southeast Asia Gaming Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The Southeast Asian gaming market is expected to grow at an 8.5% CAGR during the forecast period. The rising popularity of various sports and investments in internet infrastructure are the primary factors driving the market's enormous growth potential.

• The introduction of 5G technology in recent years aided in expanding wireless network infrastructure investments. As a result, the low latency of 5G may enable users to have a significantly more seamless cloud gaming experience. For instance, Southeast Asian operators have announced partnerships worth USD 30 billion (30,000 million) in 5G investment. The previous year, the two major Indonesian operators, Ooredoo and CK Hutchinson, signed a USD 6 billion (6,000 million) agreement for their telecommunications operations. True, Thailand's second-largest telco, announced a merger with DTAC, creating a USD 8.6 billion (8,600 million) company with approximately 51 million customers.
• The growing popularity of e-sports is also boosting the region's game market. E-sports is a video game competition. With increased viewership on online platforms such as Twitch and YouTube, advertising is expected to generate more revenue during the forecast period.
• However, issues such as piracy, laws and regulations, and concerns about fraud during gaming transactions are expected to hamper market growth, serving as a major restraint for the market.
• Through online multiplayer and group chats, video game players can stay in touch with friends and family. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they helped people pass the time and keep in touch with friends and family in a fun way. Unlike other industries, Southeast Asian gaming is experiencing a surge in demand. Influencer partnerships, in-app advertising, innovations, and gaming partnerships drive the industry forward. In the long run, the industry is expected to grow even more.

• According to the All-Correct Games blog, the number of mobile online gamers in Southeast Asia increased to around 250 million in the previous year. Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines are Southeast Asia's six most important mobile gaming markets.
• The availability of a free-to-play option is one of the primary drivers of mobile gaming when compared to personal computers. The introduction of cloud-based mobile gaming may accelerate this trend.
• Though e-sports is a relatively new concept in Southeast Asia compared to traditional games, it is expanding rapidly due to the region's growing gaming market. Furthermore, over 55% of mobile gamers are over 55, with only 8% being teenagers, owing to the popularity of hyper-casual and casual games, which do not require many skills and can be played by any user. The majority of hypercasual games are monetized through advertising. However, the mobile gaming market is seasonal, so the games' popularity may fade quickly. As a result, forecasting demand for new games is difficult, limiting market growth.
• On the other hand, the advent of cloud gaming has removed the constant need for hardware upgrades, and players worldwide can play cloud games on their existing devices and on future devices that may have low specs. The most significant opportunity for vendors in the segment is to reach smartphone gamers, who make up a sizable portion of the gaming audience and prefer to play PC and console games on their mobile devices.
• According to a recent Google survey, one in every three smartphone owners in Southeast Asia plays mobile games at least once every seven days. Over 82% of Southeast Asia's urban online population is a gamer, and mobile gaming outnumbers PC and console games by a wide margin.

• Due to increased internet penetration and the proliferation of low-cost smartphones among urban and rural populations, the online gaming market experienced impressive growth. This ecosystem is monetized through revenue streams such as in-app purchases, pay-per-download, subscription services, in-app advertisements, incentive-based advertisements, and so on.
• With rising internet penetration, major technology vendors are investing in online gaming, driving the regional market's growth. For example, with the release of "New World" in September, Amazon accelerated its entry into the MMORPG (Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) gaming industry. Google LLC closed its in-house Stadia game development studios to refocus it as a platform for providing games and game streaming services from existing developers.
• According to Akamai Technologies, when an update is released, gaming software downloads account for a significant amount of internet traffic. A modern game's software update generates massive traffic, roughly equal to 30,000 web pages. As a result, multiple people in the same house trying to play an online match simultaneously can overload any home's internet bandwidth.
• According to a recent Ericsson Mobility report, there will be 4.4 billion (4,400 million) 5G subscriptions worldwide by the end of 2027, accounting for more than half of all mobile subscriptions. By the forecast period, data traffic per smartphone in Southeast Asia and Oceania will be the highest globally, with 15 million 5G subscriptions in the previous year.
• Mobile subscriptions in Southeast Asia and Oceania have surpassed 1.1 billion (1,100 million). In the previous year, 5G subscriptions were estimated to reach 15 million and continue to increase rapidly over the next few years, reaching around 560 million by the forecast period. Data traffic per smartphone could get 46 GB per month in 2027, representing a 34% CAGR in Southeast Asia and Oceania.

The Southeast Asian gaming market is highly competitive due to the presence of many small and large players. The market appears to be moderately concentrated, with the major players adopting strategies like product innovation, service innovation, mergers, and acquisitions to stay ahead of the competition and increase their reach.

• November 2022 - Nintendo announced the formation of a joint venture company with mobile game developer DeNA on April 3, 2023. DeNA co-created and managed the service infrastructure and Nintendo Account integration for several Nintendo iOS and Android titles, including Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and Mario Kart Tour. The joint venture company will conduct research and development and create "value-added services" to further strengthen Nintendo's relationship with consumers.
• September 2022 - PlayPark Inc., an online game publisher in collaboration with Asiasoft and Archosaur Games, has launched their newest mobile MMORPG: Dream of A New World, which has been available since September 2023 in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.
• June 2022 - PlayPark launched 'ELYON,' a steampunk fantasy PC MMORPG that Closed the Beta Test period in SEA. The game features high-octane action and dynamic combat in a vibrant steampunk fantasy world. It is tailored to gamers of all types, with a high degree of freedom in character and skill set customization. Before the launch date, exclusive test events were held in four countries: Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
• May 2022 - Asiasoft Corporation Public Company Limited, a Southeast Asian online game publisher, has partnered with Archosaur Games, a Chinese game developer, to launch 'Noah's Heart,' a Triple-A giant MMORPG mobile game, in the fourth quarter of 2022. This game is available in five languages for six Southeast Asian countries: Thai, English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Bahasa.

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