Over these next five years, Niko Partners anticipates the combined Asia & MENA games market to reach nearly $100 billion ($97.1 billion) with a CAGR of 2.5%. This is according to the Niko Partners’ Asia & MENA market model reports 2024.
The model data is based on a Niko Partners survey of 7,700 gamers in the Asia & MENA region between November 2023 and April 2024.
The Asia and MENA model includes 13 markets: China, India, East Asia (Japan and Korea), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and MENA (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates). Combined, these markets account for 1.61 billion gamers in 2023 – over half of the world’s players.
By 2028, Niko partners expects the number of gamers in these regions to reach 1.99 billion at a 5-year CAGR of 4.4%. India accounts for 72% of this projected growth in gamers. Over the next five years, the country is likely to add 277 million more gamers (totaling 731 million), surpassing China’s current player count.
The MENA markets are expected to be the second fastest growing, while Japan and Korea should grow more slowly than other markets. Combined, the Asia & MENA regions generated $85.5 billion in revenue in 2023, up 4.6% year-on-year.
In 2024, Niko Partners is forecasting the region to grow 2.5% to $87.6 billion in revenue. Furthermore, it expects this pace of growth to continue through 2028.
Asia and MENA remain critical in the global games market, and drivers to the growth in these regions include localization, increase in participation by female gamers, government support for esports, growth of out-of-app monetization of mobile games, and rising spending power.
