The State of Gaming: Mid-2022 Report
During the events of 2020, many industries around the world fell into a decline. Meanwhile, the video game industry saw a 12 percent increase in revenue in 2020 ($120.1 billion -> $139.9 billion). In 2021, it saw an increase of 14.4 percent, far surpassing SuperData Research’s prediction (of 2 percent) and ending the year with $178.7 billion in revenue.
We are nearly halfway through 2022 and Newzoo is forecasting that video game industry revenue will cross the $200 million threshold and hit $203 billion in revenue before year’s end.
Unity’s Gaming Report for 2022 highlighted six major trends, and we’d like to highlight some of the finer insights that you should know.
Insight 1
The amount of games published in 2021 that are monetized by ad revenue (with single gameplay loop), also known as “hypercasual” games, grew by 137 percent and in-app purchase revenue for hypercasual games grew over 162 percent.
What’s most interesting about the increase in the number of games published, is that there was a 50 percent or more increase across all categories (live games, hypercasual, hardcore, midcore, casual).
Genres of adventure, puzzle, and simulation grew over 10 percent with casino and sports genres declined with action games having the least growth of all.
| Category | Try a New Game | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Live Games | Diablo Immortal (Blizzard’s free to play mobile Diablo game) | PC & Mobile (mobile first game) |
| hypercasual | Crossy Road (like frogger) | Mobile |
| hardcore | Let’s Build a Zoo (run & build a zoo) | PC, Playstation, Xbox, & Switch |
| midcore | Horizon Zero Dawn (incredible adventure) | Playstation & PC |
| Casual | Poly Bridge (build bridges to solve puzzles) | PC & Mobile |
Insight 2
AAA (major) game studios may have a lot of games, but it’s still smaller indie studios driving innovation. Here are just a few examples of smaller studios’ games that took off and surprised us.
| Genre | Studio | Studio Size |
|---|---|---|
| Stardew Valley | ConcernedApe | 1 person |
| Valheim | Iron Gate Studio | 10 people |
| Cuphead | StudioMDHR | 19 people |
| The Binding of Isaac | Edmund McMillen & Florian Himsl | 2 people |
| Don’t Starve Together | Klei | 35 people |
| Hollow Night | Team Cherry | 3 people |
| Celeste | Independent Team | 5 people |
| Undertale | Toby Fox | 1 person |
| Rocket League | Psyonix | 8-12 people |
| Minecraft Java Edition | Notch | 1 person |
Insight 3
The video games industry, maybe once considered small, obscure, or countercultural, is a massive industry with major players (pun intended). Indie studios are strong contenders for creating beautiful worlds to adventure into, but you might be amazed at how large some of the AAA studios are.
Insight 4
Gamers are more and more accepting of in-game ads. According to Unity, “Some developers worry that ads push players out of games, as people might follow ad links and not return to the game. But ads, especially those that give in-game rewards, actually raise user retention – a trend that has consistently been documented in Unity research.”
Licensing deals like McLaren x PUBG New State showcase non-endemic brands within games.Insight 4a
Unity believes game lifespans will lengthen and so do we, especially “live service” games (e.g. League of Legends, Fortnite, PUBG). Games with continuous content updates (inclusive of in-game ads) will continue to grow and thrive. According to Unity: “Making new content is one of the most direct ways to increase the number of people playing your game over time. Players don’t want to play the same old thing over and over again. Eventually, they will want new content.”
Insight 4b
This will especially true of mobile multiplayer games (e.g. Genshin Impact), even Blizzard has launched a live service mobile multiplayer game: Diablo Immortal.
Insight 5
EPIC Games (who owns Unreal Engine, a Unity alternative) recently partnered with Gala Games to debut the first Web3 video game on their store launching later this year. This will be the first Web3 game to launch on a major video game store front. The launch will certainly provide insights into how the broader gaming community will react and experiment. With Web3 making waves, we believe that it is only a matter of time before we start seeing indie-level innovation from new Web3 game developers.
In conclusion, the gaming industry shows no signs of slowing down. Developers, both large and small, continue to innovate and improve upon the ways we experience (and spend money on/within) games. Finally, as Web3 projects continue to pop up and seek ways into the gaming market, the consumer response will reveal whether or not these ideas can resonate with the community at large as the “next step” in immersive entertainment.
With these insights at hand, the question remains: can gaming sustain this massive growth year over year? Furthermore: as entertainment continues to shift and evolve, what will keep gaming at the top?
You can read the full report on Unity’s website.
