Market Report · July 15, 2026
Report Feature
The global gaming software industry witnessed strong growth during the last five years and is expected to continue the same growth momentum and reach an estimated $80.7 billion by 2018. Due to lack of direct alternative for gaming software, the industry is expected to flourish as long as smartphones, consoles, and handheld gaming
devices exist. The next generations of consoles will further boost the industry over the forecast period.A total of 88 figures / charts and 42 tables are provided in this 130-page report to help in your business decisions. Sample figures with some insights are shown below. To learn the scope of, benefits, companies researched and other details of the gaming software industry report, download the report brochure.
Lucintel research indicates that among all the market segments, mobile and online segments are expected to register robust growth over the forecast period. Strong economic growth in the emerging markets, such as India, China, Indonesia, and Malaysia will result in high disposable income for entertainment. Young population in the emerging markets is likely to increase which will prove to be sales booster for the gaming software industry. Mobile, social, and online gaming segments are anticipated to grow continuously as they are suitable for lower income segments of population. Rapid growth of broadband and other high speed internet facilities have led to huge growth potential for online gaming sector. Increasing penetration of tablet and smartphones is further boosting the global gaming software industry to the next level.
In the last five years, APAC (Asia Pacific) and Rest of the Word (ROW) have emerged as the fastest growing regions in global gaming software market. The growth in these regions has been driven by increased consumer spending, growth in internet penetration, robust sales of handheld devices, and growing number of younger age population. On the other hand, growth in North America and Europe slowed down during the last five years as these regions were largely affected by global economic slowdown. ROW gaming software industry is expected to witness the highest growth during 2013-2018.
In the last five years, APAC (Asia Pacific) and Rest of the Word (ROW) have emerged as the fastest growing regions in global gaming software market. The growth in these regions has been driven by increased consumer spending, growth in internet penetration, robust sales of handheld devices, and growing number of younger age population. On the other hand, growth in North America and Europe slowed down during the last five years as these regions were largely affected by global economic slowdown. ROW gaming software industry is expected to witness the highest growth during 2013-2018.
Lucintel outlines that piracy is one of the key challenges which hinder the growth of global gaming software industry, especially in the emerging nations such as China and India where per capita income is relatively low. Industry players are required to come up with innovative offerings with economical pricing to overcome this challenge. Increasing cost to develop new gaming software with continuous evolvement in customer behavior is also creating challenge for the global gaming software industry to maintain and increase its acceptance in the market.
The report provides an in-depth analysis of the global gaming software industry covering all the four regions: North America, APAC, Europe, and ROW. It also details about the emerging regions that reflect growth in the forecast period. This report will help in knowing the upcoming opportunities and threats likely to be faced by the industry players. Through this report, industry players will come to know about the unmet demands of customers, new product launches, and more which will help in making their research and development activities simpler, and players can design their products as per the demand.
Some of the features of this report:
- Analysis of competitive intensity of the industry based on Porter’s Five Forces model which helps to understand the competitive position of industry players
- Gaming software market size by different regions and different business segments in terms of value, market size trend (2007-2012) and forecast (2013-2018) for key market segments that are useful to make major investment decisions
- Regional analysis provides breakdown of Gaming Software industry by different regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of World in terms of value and by business segments
- Competitive landscape, emerging trends, unmet needs, market drivers and growth opportunity analysis provided helps to ascertain a sound investment decision
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Figure 3.1: Global gaming software industry ($B) distribution (%) by segment 2012
Figure 3.2: Global gaming software industry ($B) by segment 2012
Figure 3.3: Global gaming software industry ($B) distribution (%) by region 2012
Figure 3.4: North American gaming software industry ($B) distribution (%) by segment 2012
Figure 3.5: North American gaming software industry ($B) by segment 2012
Figure 3.6: European gaming software industry ($B) distribution (%) by segment 2012
Figure 3.7: European gaming software industry ($B) by segment 2012
Figure 3.8: APAC gaming software industry ($B) dfistribution (%) by segment 2012
Figure 3.9: APAC gaming software industry ($B) by segment 2012
Figure 3.10: ROW gaming software industry ($B) distribution (%) by segment 2012
Figure 3.11: ROW gaming software industry ($B) by segment 2012
Figure 3.12: Global GDP growth rate trend
Figure 3.13: Global population growth rate trend
Figure 3.14: Global inflation rate trend
Figure 3.15: Global unemployment rate trend
Figure 3.16: Regional GDP growth rate trend at constant price
Figure 3.17: Regional population growth rate trend
Figure 3.18: Population age structure 2012
Figure 3.19: Regional inflation rate trend
Figure 3.20: Regional unemployment rate trend
Figure 3.21: Global and regional per capita income trend
Figure 3.22: Global gaming software industry trends 2007-2012 ($B)
Figure 3.23: Global gaming software industry trend by segment during 2007-2012
Figure 3.24: CAGR of global gaming software industry by segment during 2007-2012
Figure 3.25: Year-over-year growth rate of global gaming software industry by segment during 2011-2012
Figure 3.26: North American gaming software industry trends 2007-2012 ($B)
Figure 3.27: North American gaming software industry trends by segment 2007-2012
Figure 3.28: CAGR of various segments of North American gaming software industry trends 2007-2012
Figure 3.29: Year-over-year North American gaming software industry trends by segment 2011-2012
Figure 3.30: European gaming software industry trends 2007-2012 ($B)
Figure 3.31: European gaming software industry trends by segment during 2007-2012
Figure 3.32: CAGR of European gaming software industry by segment during 2007-2012
Figure 3.33: Year-over-year growth rate of European gaming software industry by segment during 2011-2012
Figure 3.34: APAC gaming software industry trends 2007-2012 ($B)
Figure 3.35: APAC gaming software industry trend by segment during 2007-2012
Figure 3.36: CAGR of APAC gaming software industry by segment during 2007-2012
Figure 3.37: Year-over-year growth rate of APAC gaming software industry by segment during 2011-2012
Figure 3.38: ROW gaming software industry trends 2007-2012 ($ B)
Figure 3.39: ROW gaming software industry trend by segment during 2007-2012
Figure 3.40: CAGR of ROW gaming software industry by segment during 2007-2012
Figure 3.41: Year-over-year growth rate of ROW gaming software industry by segment during 2011-2012
Figure 3.42: Drivers and challenges of global gaming software industry
Figure 3.43: Global GDP growth rate forecast
Figure 3.44: Global population growth rate forecast
Figure 3.45: Global inflation rate forecast
Figure 3.46: Global unemployment rate forecast
Figure 3.47: Regional GDP growth rate forecast at constant price
Figure 3.48: Regional population growth rate forecast
Figure 3.49: Population age structure, 2018
Figure 3.50: Regional inflation rate forecast
Figure 3.51: Regional unemployment rate forecast
Figure 3.52: Global and regional per capita income forecast
Figure 3.53: Global gaming software industry growth forecasts 2013-2018
Figure 3.54: Global gaming software industry segment forecast 2013-2018
Figure 3.55: CAGR of various segments of global gaming software industry by value during 2013-2018
Figure 3.56: Year-over-Year growth rate in various segments of global gaming software industry by value during 2012-2013
Figure 3.57: North American gaming software industry growth forecasts 2013-2018
Figure 3.58: North American gaming software industry segment forecast 2013-2018
Figure 3.59: CAGR of various segments of North American gaming software industry by value during 2013-2018
Figure 3.60: Year-over-year growth rate in various segments of North American gaming software industry by value during 2012-2013
Figure 3.61: European gaming software industry growth forecasts 2013-2018
Figure 3.62: European gaming software industry segment forecast 2013-2018
Figure 3.63: CAGR of various segments of European gaming software industry by value during 2013-2018
Figure 3.64: Year-over-year growth rate in various segments of the European gaming software industry by value during 2012-2013
Figure 3.65: APAC gaming software industry growth forecasts 2013-2018
Figure 3.66: APAC gaming software industry segment forecast 2013-2018
Figure 3.67: CAGR of various segments of APAC gaming software industry by value during 2013-2018
Figure 3.68: Year-over-year growth rate in various segments of APAC gaming software industry by value during 2012-2013
Figure 3.69: ROW gaming software industry growth forecasts 2013-2018
Figure 3.70: ROW gaming software industry segment forecast 2013-2018
Figure 3.71: CAGR of various segments of ROW gaming software industry by value during 2013-2018
Figure 3.72: Year-over-year growth rate in various segments of ROW gaming software industry by value during 2012-2013
Figure 4.1: Global gaming software industry profitability analysis 2007-2012 (%)
Figure 4.2: Cost structure of global gaming software industry 2007-2012
Figure 4.3: Cost structure in North American gaming software industry 2007-2012
Figure 4.4: Cost structure in European gaming software industry 2007-2012
Figure 4.5: Cost structure in APAC gaming software industry 2007-2012
Figure 4.6: Asset analysis of global gaming software industry 2007-2012
Figure 4.7: Debt analysis of global gaming software industry 2007-2012
Figure 5.1: Market presence of major players of global gaming software industry
Figure 5.2: Global market share of gaming software publishers in 2012
Figure 5.3: Growth leadership matrix in global gaming software industry
Figure 5.4: Opportunities in global gaming software industry
Figure 5.5: Growth forecasts in global gaming software industry by region
List of Tables
Table 3.1: Market trends (2007-2012) in global gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.2: Average growth rates for one, three, and five years in global gaming software industry
Table 3.3: Industry size and annual average growth rates during last five years (2007-2012) in various segments of global gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.4: Industry size and annual growth rates for 2011-2012 in various industry segments of global gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.5: Market trends (2007-2012) in North American gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.6: Average growth rates for one, three, and five years in North American gaming software industry
Table 3.7: Industry size and annual average growth rates during last five years (2007-2012) in various segments of North American gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.8: Industry size and annual growth rates for 2011-2012 in various segments of North American gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.9: Market trends (2007-2012) in European gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.10: Average growth rates for one, three, and five years in European gaming software industry
Table 3.11: Industry size and annual average growth rates during last five years (2007-2012) in various segments of European gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.12: Industry size and annual growth rates for 2011-2012 in various industry segments of European gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.13: Market trends (2007-2012) in APAC gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.14: Average growth rates for one, three, and five years in APAC gaming software industry
Table 3.15: Industry size and annual average growth rates during last five years (2007-2012) in various industry segments of APAC gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.16: Industry size and annual growth rates for 2011-2012 in various segments of APAC gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.17: Market Trends (2007-2012) in ROW Gaming Software Industry ($B)
Table 3.18: Average growth rates for one, three, and five years in ROW gaming software industry
Table 3.19: Industry size and annual average growth rates during last five years (2007-2012) in various industry segments of ROW gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.20: Industry size and annual growth rates for 2011-2012 in various industry segments of ROW gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.21: Market forecast (2013-2018) in global gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.22: Average growth rates for one, three, and five years in global gaming software industry
Table 3.23: Industry size and annual growth rates for next five years (2013-2018 in various industry segments of global gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.24: Industry size and 2012-2013 annual growth rates in various segments of global gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.25: Market forecast (2013-2018) in North American gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.26: Average growth rates for one, three, and five years in North American gaming software industry
Table 3.27: Industry size and annual growth rates for next five years (2013-2018) in various industry segments of North American gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.28: Industry size and 2012-2013 growth rates in various segments of North American gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.29: Market forecast (2013-2018) in European gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.30: Average growth rates for one, three, and five years in European gaming software industry in terms of $ value
Table 3.31: Industry size and average annual growth rates for next five years (2013-2018) in various industry segments of European gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.32: Industry size and 2012-2013 growth rates in various segments of European gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.33: Market forecast (2013-2018) in APAC gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.34: Average growth rates for one, three, and five years in APAC gaming software industry
Table 3.35: Industry size and average annual growth rates for next five years (2013-2018) in various industry segments of APAC gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.36: Industry size and 2012-2013 growth rates in various segments of APAC gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.37: Market forecast (2013-2018) in ROW gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.38: Average growth rates for one, three, and five years in ROW gaming software industry
Table 3.39: Industry size and average annual growth rates for next five years (2013-2018) in various industry segments of ROW gaming software industry ($B)
Table 3.40: Industry size and 2012-2013 growth rates in various segments of ROW gaming software Industry ($B)
Methodology
Lucintel has been in the business of market research and management consulting since 2000 and has published over 1000 market intelligence reports in various markets / applications and served over 1,000 clients worldwide. This study is a culmination of four months of full-time effort performed by Lucintel's analyst team. The analysts used the following sources for the creation and completion of this valuable report:
- In-depth interviews of the major players in this market
- Detailed secondary research from competitors’ financial statements and published data
- Extensive searches of published works, market, and database information pertaining to industry news, company press releases, and customer intentions
- A compilation of the experiences, judgments, and insights of Lucintel’s professionals, who have analyzed and tracked this market over the years.
Extensive research and interviews are conducted across the supply chain of this market to estimate market share, market size, trends, drivers, challenges, and forecasts. Below is a brief summary of the primary interviews that were conducted by job function for this report.
Thus, Lucintel compiles vast amounts of data from numerous sources, validates the integrity of that data, and performs a comprehensive analysis. Lucintel then organizes the data, its findings, and insights into a concise report designed to support the strategic decision-making process. The figure below is a graphical representation of Lucintel’s research process.
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