Say what you will about mobile gaming on Android and iOS platforms. They’re still dominating around half of the global games industry revenue, with market intelligence firm Newzoo forecasts stating that it will reach approximately $63.2 billion by the end of 2018. That may be lower than their earlier estimates of $70.3 billion, but consoles and PC have a long way to catch up.

In comparison, Newzoo forecasts have increased its console revenue growth from $34.6 billion to $38.3 billion by the end of 2018. The biggest contributor to this is the stellar performance of all three major consoles: Sony’s PS4, Microsoft’s Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch. Strong exclusives garnered impressive sales, including Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4), Forza Horizon 4 (Xbox One), and Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Switch).

Highly-anticipated multi-platform releases like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Red Dead Redemption 2, Call of Duty Black Ops 4, and more are also a major contributing factor. However, Newzoo is expecting console revenue to slow down starting from mid-2019 due to the fact that game companies and developers are already gearing up for the next generation of consoles (which may or may not be the PS5 and Xbox Scarlett)

Meanwhile, PC revenue forecasts have also been increased from $32.9 billion to $33.4 billion by the end of 2018. This may not be what some gamers want to hear but the biggest reason for PC growth in 2018 is the massive popularity of battle royale games like Fortnite and PUBG. PC gaming peripheral hardware sales also boosted revenue for the PC market.

Ultimately, the overall revenue for the 2018 global games market has decreased from $137.9 billion to $134.9 billion. Don’t let those numbers fool you though because games revenue is still proving to have grown at an incredible 10.9 percent or $13.2 billion from 2017.

For those who believe that mobile gaming is still just a ‘fad,’ I have unfortunate news for you. Newzoo forecasts state that mobile games revenue will only continue to grow, and it is even expected to account for an unbelievable 52 percent of the global games industry revenue by 2021. Be afraid, be very afraid, the mobile master race is coming.

Newzoo had this to say about the future of mobile gaming: “In the span of a decade, mobile gaming will have grown from the smallest segment in 2012 to a 100-billion-dollar industry in 2021. Remarkably, the rise of mobile gaming has not significantly cannibalized revenues from PC or console gaming markets. In the coming years, mobile game revenue growth will continue to outpace the overall games market, growing to $106.4 billion in 2021.”

Source: Newzoo