Role Playing Games Market Definition
The role playing games market consists of sales of role playing games and related services by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) that produce role playing games, including businesses that are involved in design, documentation, installation and support services, producing and distributing role playing games. Companies in this industry undertake operations such as the design, development, publication, distribution, and monetization of role playing game software on personal computers, mobile phones, or gaming consoles.
Role Playing Games Market Size
The global role playing games market reached a value of nearly $15,793.3 million in 2019, having increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.84% since 2015, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.22% to nearly $22,471.3 million by 2023.
Growth in the historic period resulted from rise in disposable income, in-game purchases and freemiums, live streamers and gaming influencers, and cross-platform publishing and play. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were stringent regulations, stringent regulations, and overshadowing by other genres.
Going forward, increasing use of internet, technically advanced platforms, and increasing gamer’s involvement will drive the growth. Factors that could hinder the growth of the role playing games market in the future include regulatory restrictions to curb RPG games addiction, high cost and system compatibility, and supply chain disruption due to the impact of COVID-19.
Role Playing Games Market Drivers
The key drivers of the role playing games market include:
Increasing Gamers Involvement
The rising involvement of gamers due to the COVID-19 situation is expected to positively impact the role play gaming market. In countries such as the UK and the US where many employees have been furloughed off work, but still being paid and do not have anywhere else to spend the money are turning to online gaming, to get some form of escapism. According to Verizon, overall traffic related to internet gaming has increased 75% since restrictions were imposed in America. Bungie, a video-game developer, says that average daily user engagement on their RPG game “Destiny 2” is up 10% worldwide and as much as 20% in the markets most affected by the coronavirus. This can be attributed to people being increasingly stuck at home and finding online gaming as an easy way to pass time. In February 2020, the games company Blizzard, the maker of World of Warcraft, issued an apology after the users had to wait for lengthy times in China due to a high influx of players from the country.
Role Playing Games Market Restraints
The key restraints on the role playing games market include:
Supply Chain Disruption Due To The Impact Of COVID-19
The disruption in supply chain caused to the impact of COVID-19 could affect the RPG market in the forecast period. With the spread of the coronavirus originating in China, next-generation video consoles and some new RPG game releases may get pushed back, since many gaming companies rely on Chinese manufacturers to produce their products. China continues to have supply chain issues with the factories slow to return to normal and trying to keep up with the demand. Games such as Outer Worlds action RPG game have been postponed due to the pandemic. Companies such as Nintendo are currently struggling to meet the demands for their switch consoles, due to the supply chain disruption in China, where it was mass manufactured. This is expected to impact the RPG market in the forecast period.
Role Playing Games Market Trends
Major trends influencing the role playing games market include:
Use Of Players’ Data
Companies are increasingly collecting player data to enhance the RPG games and gaming experiences. RPGs developers and publishers mainly work towards increasing the engagement level of the games with a focus on varied demand characteristics of Western and Asian countries. This is done by collecting and performing data analytics on the users’ behavioral data such as the time spent on the game (per user), the devices used, regional, national and international players on the game, players’ interaction with the game and platform such as quitting points insights from social elements, their preference of cross-platform play, peak times of use, game server response times, in-game purchases, and each user’s personal data. The data is used by the RPGs developers and publishers to tailor the advertisements and brand integration activities. Companies implementing data analytics to customize their games and in-game activities include Electronic Arts, Zynga and Microsoft.
In-Game Advertising
Companies are increasingly investing in in-game advertising in RPGs due to the genre’s high viewership. RPGs generally have greater user engagement (especially MMORPG) than other genres because of the presence of multiple players and continuous social interactions among the players. In addition, players from the major countries in the RPGs market such as China, Japan and Korea do not invest their disposable incomes on these games, and instead their time. The companies in the RPGs market are taking steps towards generating auxiliary revenues through dynamic and static advertising. In dynamic in-game advertising, companies purchase real-time locations to advertise within the video games and the advertising appears on digital objects such as notes, labels, boards, hoardings, and posters. Static in-game advertising is programmed into the storyline of the game during its design and development. Examples of in-game advertising for MMORPGs include NCSoft’s board advertisement in City of Heroes and Toyota’s billboard advertisement in Anarchy Online. , , , In 2019, Marshmello, an American electronic music producer and DJ performed in a virtual live concert inside Fortnite, an online video game with more than 200 million users. Following this virtual live event, Marshmello’s YouTube channel gained around 699,000 subscribers in one day, and his YouTube views per day registered an approximate 500% increase from 7.8 million to 42.8 million .
Opportunities And Recommendations In The Role Playing Games Market
Opportunities – The top opportunities in the role playing games market segmented by type of platform, will arise in the PC based RPGs segment, which will gain $3,251.8 million of global annual sales by 2023. The top opportunities in the role playing games market segmented by type of game will arise in the MMORPG segment, which will gain $3,150.7 million of global annual sales by 2023. The top opportunities in the role playing games market segmented by type of distribution channel will arise in the online microtransaction segment, which will gain $5,599.6 million of global annual sales by 2023. The role playing games market size will gain the most in China at $1,638.1 million
Market-trend-based strategies for the role playing games market include offering streaming video game services, providing in-game advertising to increase revenues, integrating AR and VR technologies in games, offering game software services on the cloud with pay-per-usage payment models, providing a subscription-based gaming or pay-as-you-go model, and adopting new age technologies to improve the product portfolio and to attract newer users. Player-adopted strategies in the role playing games market include expanding reach through customer engagement strategies, expansion through new product launches, and investing in technological advancements.
Recommendations – To take advantage of the opportunities, The Business Research Company recommends the role playing games companies to focus on streaming games, offer in game purchases, provide subscription based pricing, leverage social media, collaborate with live streamers and gaming influencers, and to participate in events.
Role Playing Games Market Segmentation
The role playing games market is segmented by type of product, by platform, by distribution, by gender of game rand by age of gamer
By Type Of Product-
The role playing games market can be segmented by type of product
- a) Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPGs)
- b) Action-Based RPGs
- c) Turn-Based RPGs
- d) Puzzle RPGs
- e) Tactical RPGs
The MMORPG market was the largest segment of the role playing games market segmented by type of game, accounting for 39.8% of the total in 2019. It was followed by action-based role-playing games, turn-based role-playing games, and Puzzle-Based. Going forward, the MMORPG segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the role playing games market segmented by type of game, at a CAGR of 10.7%.
By Platform–
The role playing games market can be segmented by technology
- a) PC RPG
- b) Mobile RPGs
- c) Console RPGs
The PC based RPGs market was the largest segment of the role playing games market segmented by type of platform, accounting for 43.9% of the total in 2019. It is also expected to be the fastest growing segment in the role playing games market, at a CAGR of 10.1%.
By Distribution –
The role playing games market can be segmented by distribution
- a) Online Microtransaction
- b) Digital
- c) Physical
The online microtransaction market was the largest segment of the role playing games market segmented by type of distribution channel, accounting for 83.3% of the total in 2019. It is also expected to be the fastest growing segment in the role playing games market, at a CAGR of 9.3%.
By Gender Of Gamer –
The role playing games market can be segmented by gender of gamer
The male gamers market was the largest segment of the role playing games market segmented by type of gender, accounting for 54.0% of the total in 2019. The female gamers segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the role playing games market, at a CAGR of 10.2%.
By Age Of Gamer –
The role playing games market can be segmented by age of gamer
- a) Below 18
- b) 18-35
- c) 36-49
- d) Above 50
The 18-35 market was the largest segment of the role playing games market segmented by age, accounting for 32% of the total in 2019. The below 18 segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the role playing games market, at a CAGR of 16.2%.
By Geography–
The role playing games market is segmented into
- o North America
- o Western Europe
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- UK
- o Asia Pacific
- China
- Australia
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Singapore
- South Korea
- o Eastern Europe
- o South America
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Colombia
- o Middle East
- o Africa
Asia Pacific was the largest region in the global role playing games market, accounting for 51.3% of the total in 2019. It was followed by North America, Western Europe, and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the role playing games market will be Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific, where growth will be at CAGRs of 11.6% and 9.9% respectively. These will be followed by the Middle East and North America, where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 9.7% and 9.1% respectively.
Role Playing Games Competitive Landscape
Major Competitors are:
- • Activision Blizzard
- • Nintendo Co, Ltd.G
- • Bethesda Softworks
- • Electronic Arts
- • Square Enix
Other Competitors Include:
- • Nova Gaming Ventures Private Limited
- • Electronic Arts Games India Private Limited
- • Tencent Holdings Ltd
- • Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd
- • Virtuos Holdings Pte. Ltd.
- • Elex Technology Co., Ltd
- • NetEase, Inc
- • Happy Elements Technology (Beijing) Limited
- • Shanghai Everstar Online Entertainment Co .Ltd
- • 99Games
- • Apar Games
- • PUBG Corporation
- • Griptonite Games India Private Limited
- • Sony Interactive Entertainment
- • Capcom Co., Ltd
- • Bandai Namco Holdings Inc
- • Game Freak Inc
- • Creatures Inc
- • KLab Co., Ltd.
- • Aiming Inc.
- • Supercell
- • Gameloft
- • Team17 Digital Limited
- • Frontier Developments plc,
- • Codemasters Software Company Limited
- • Ubisoft
- • XSEED Games
- • Microsoft Studios
- • Valve Corporation
- • Sega
- • Koei Tecmo Games
- • Daedalic Entertainment
- • Headup Games
- • BUKA Entertainment
- • Ambidexter LLC
- • Mail.ru Group
- • Alawar Entertainment
- • Nival Interactive
- • GSC Game World
- • Meridian93
- • Alderac Entertainment Group
- • Hinterland Studio
- • Klei Entertainment Inc.
- • Radical Entertainment Inc.
- • Arc Dream Publishing
- • Evil Hat Productions
- • OKAM Studio
- • Behold Studios
- • Dedalord
- • Space Rhino Games
- • Efecto Studios
- • Xbox Game Studios
- • Quirkat
- • Tamatem
- • Tasalla
- • Nezal Entertainment
- • Game Power 7
- • Babil Games
- • Celestial Games
- • Kuluya
- • Leti Arts
- • Kiro’o Games