Over the past few years, the eSports industry has seen incredible growth. Based on the figures available, the experts believe the upward trend is to continue.
Earlier this year, we published interesting eSports stats and noted that the industry was forecast to exceed $1 billion in 2021 for the first time. The latest projections confirm that.
According to Newzoo’s Global eSports & Live Streaming Market Report 2021, the industry is now expected to reach $1.084 billion, a rise of 14.5% from $947.1 million in 2020, when COVID-19 caused a period of weak activity in many areas.
It was believed that this industry hadn’t been that affected by the pandemic, but the figures tell us something different. Namely, the eSports industry didn’t register growth in 2020. On the contrary, annual revenues dropped by some $10 million.
Now that recovery has started, the rise should continue at a CAGR of 11.1% in the years to come. In 2024, annual revenues could stand at an astonishing $1.6 billion!
Furthermore, the global games live-streaming audience will reach 728.8 million in 2021, a 10% increase y-o-y.
As for the countries contributing to this market the most, it’s a well-known fact that China is dominant. For instance, 40% of people who watch eSports tournaments are in China. In 2020, there were some 185.5 million people in this country streaming eSports. China is thus projected to account for $360.1 million (33.22%) of the 2021 annual revenues.
North America is expected to contribute $243 million (22.41%), while Western European countries’ share should be $205.8 million (18.98%).
These figures are very promising, and we’re excited to see what the upcoming years will bring to the eSports industry.
