Serious Games Market Statistics, 2030
The serious games market size was valued at $5.94 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $32.72 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 18.47%. Major growth drivers of the serious games market size include increase in need of better user engagement platforms across enterprises, rise in usage of mobile-based educational games, significant adoption of virtual reality in training & development activities, and improvement in learning outcomes.
Serious games are games designed for a purpose other than entertainment. Companies use game environment and techniques to educate or train users & employees or promote a product or service in an engaging and entertaining manner. These games are being used in various industries such as education, defense, healthcare, emergency management, city planning, scientific exploration, and others.
On the basis of gaming platform, the smartphone segment dominated the serious games market in 2020, and is expected to continue this trend during the forecast period. With the rapid rise in mobile gaming in the past five years, smartphones are anticipated to gain market traction in the coming years. One of the perks of this gaming platform is its cost-effectiveness.
According to the application, the simulation and training segment dominated the serious games industry in 2020, and is expected to maintain its dominance in the upcoming years. This is attributed to ongoing trend of game-based learning among organizations to achieve impressive performance results from employees. Serious games are being used in a variety of simulation and training use cases, such as corporate education, emergency services training, and health care among other purposes. However, the research and planning segment is expected to witness highest growth rate during the forecast period.
By Application
Simulation And Training segment is projected as one of the most significant segments.
Asia-Pacific is the dominant region in global serious games industry owing to the fact that large number of population is active on social media and presence of developing countries such as India, China, South Korea, and others.
Moreover, surge in demand for effective educational tools that would enhance the knowledge & interest of students, inclination of businesses toward cost-effective training modules, strong growth in research & planning, and emerging technological infrastructure are expected to offer significant growth opportunities for serious games market size in Asia-Pacific. However, LAMEA is the highest growing region in the market. This is attributed to the growth in penetration of internet, changes in consumer demographics, and uncaptured opportunities for the suppliers in LAMEA for e-learning content, software, hardware, and other services. Further, governments in Middle East are focusing on promoting mass digitization process especially in soft skills development.
By Region
LAMEA is projected as one of the most lucrative region.
The report focuses on the growth prospects, restraints, and serious games market share. The study provides Porter’s five forces analysis of the market forecast to understand the impact of various factors such as bargaining power of suppliers, competitive intensity of competitors, the threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, and bargaining power of buyers on the serious games market trends.
By Gaming Platform
Smartphone segment is projected as one of the most significant segments.
Segment Review
The serious games market is segmented on the basis of gaming platform, application, industry vertical and region. Depending on gaming platform, the market is divided into Smartphone, Console, PC, and Others. On the basis of application, the market is classified into simulation and training, research and planning, advertising and marketing, human resources, and others. On the basis of industry vertical, the market is divided into education, healthcare, aerospace and defense, government, retail, media and entertainment, and others. On the basis of region, it is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.
Top Impacting Factors:
The key impacting factors of the serious games market include increase in need for better user engagement platforms across enterprises, surge in usage of mobile-based educational games, and significant adoption of virtual reality in training & development activities. These factors have significantly contributed to the of serious games market growth, and are anticipated to impact the market growth during forecast period.
Increase in Need for Better User Engagement Platforms Across Enterprises
Employee & student engagement and productivity are directly proportional to each other. To improve the productivity of enterprises, employee engagement in training and development programs is one of the crucial activities. For such activities, organizations considerably invest in serious games platform such as Comarch Enterprise Engagement Platform, which is an IT system for organizations that comprehensively implement mechanisms and components of engagement in the work environment by defining game conditions, rules, and achievements. Therefore, the growth in need for better user engagement platform among enterprises has led a significant growth in adoption of serious games solutions since last few years.
Significant Adoption of Virtual Reality in Training & Development Activities
Virtual reality has witnessed significant adoption in serious games market, as it creates a realistic environment for training and development activities, thus increasing employee activities and their performance. Increase in awareness about such technologies; cost-effective solutions easily available in the market; and rise in spending from end-user verticals such as defense, education, healthcare, & others on employee engagement solutions further fuel the adoption of virtual reality technology, which in turn boost the growth of the market.
Technological Capabilities:
Serious games use robust technically developed engines that provide the necessary tools and frameworks for designing, building, and deploying games. Engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine are commonly used in the serious games industry due to their versatility and powerful features. In addition, VR and AR technologies have gained significant traction in the serious games market. VR allows users to experience games in a fully immersive environment, while AR overlays digital elements onto the real world. These technologies enhance learning and training experiences, making them more interactive and realistic.
Moreover, AI technologies are expected to enhance serious games by providing intelligent virtual characters, adaptive gameplay, and personalized learning experiences. AI algorithms are anticipated to analyze player behavior, adapt game challenges, and provide personalized feedback or recommendations. For instance, in April 2022, Google Arts & Culture Lab launched four new games. It creates unique, innovative, and engaging methods for the customers to enlighten users about the culture, art, and history of the world.
Government Regulation:
Government regulations are designed to protect consumers, maintain ethical standards and ensure the effectiveness of serious games resulting in the growth and evolution of the market. Governments regulations are expected to set educational standards and guidelines for serious games designed for educational purposes. This would ensure that educational games meet certain quality criteria and align with educational objectives, enhancing their effectiveness as learning tools. For instance, in May 2021, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) introduced a new educational game, CyberSprinters, for teaching cyber security at primary schools, youth organizations, and clubs. The CyberSprinters is an interactive game mainly aimed at 7 to 11-year-old learners.
COVID-19 Impact Analysis
Post COVID-19, the serious games market was valued at $5.94 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $32.72 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 18.47%. The current estimation of 2030 is projected to be higher than pre-COVID-19 estimates. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of schools all around the world. Over 1.2 billion youngsters are out of school worldwide. As a result, education has undergone significant transformations, with the rise of e-learning, in which instruction is done remotely and via digital platforms.
Unfortunately, this has decreased kids' enthusiasm for learning. To overcome this issue, e-learning systems have incorporated serious games into their platforms to make learning more engaging. According to BYJU'S, an Indian e-learning platform, creative integration of games exhibited higher engagement and enhanced enthusiasm toward learning, especially among younger students, over time. As a result, people become more aware of the market under investigation.
Furthermore, on March 30, 2020, during the current public health crisis caused by COVID-19, the International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) supported the use of virtual simulation as a replacement for clinical hours for students currently enrolled in health sciences professions (i.e., nursing students, medical students).
Key Benefits for Stakeholders
- This study includes the serious games market analysis, trends, and future estimations to determine the imminent investment pockets.
- The report presents information related to key drivers, restraints, and serious games market opportunity.
- The serious games size is quantitatively analyzed from 2020 to 2030 to highlight the financial competency of the industry.
- The Porter’s five forces analysis illustrates the potency of buyers & suppliers in serious games industry.
Serious Games Market Report Highlights
| Aspects | Details |
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 By Application |
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 By Industry Vertical |
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 By Geography |
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Analyst Review
Serious games are games designed for a purpose other than entertainment. Companies use game environment and techniques to educate or train users & employees or promote a product or service in an engaging and entertaining manner. These games are being used in various industries such as education, defense, healthcare, emergency management, city planning, scientific exploration, and others. Advances in technology, 3D gaming, motion tracking, and sophisticated graphics design have significantly changed the dynamics of serious games since past few decades in a positive way. Five major elements in a serious game affect the impact of the game on the user, including story, game dynamics, immediate & individualized feedback, simulation, and intended goal of the game. Rise in need of better employees& customer engagement platforms, increase in usage of mobile phones in education industry, surge in adoption of virtual reality & simulation-based gaming, and improvement in learning outcomes is projected to drive growth of the serious games market. Furthermore, introduction of novel games, including on the cloud platform has fueled the adoption of serious games among enterprises. In addition, surge in scope for social network & other web-based advertising and large-scale digitization are expected to create significant growth opportunities for the market growth. However, lack of cognizance about the benefits of serious games and inappropriate designs of games, which fail to achieve its goal, hamper the market growth.
The emerging era of technology has led to considerable increase in usage of social networking sites, which plays an important role in society. The advent of internet has enabled people to connect to the entire world at anytime and anywhere. This has allowed social media to be a powerful tool of marketing and promotional activities for various companies, and has become an important part of companies’ strategized growth and development. To make this platform an interactive and interesting method to attract people, companies launch serious games on social media. People can play a quiz to earn a monetary benefit or other prizes, which increase their interest in that particular company or may lead to brand loyalty. Thus, emergence of social networking sites and their enormous growth in the near future are expected to be opportunistic for the market. The key market players have adopted various strategies, such as product launches, partnerships, business expansions, promotional activities, and strategic alliances, to increase awareness about newer technologies and increase their adoption across various verticals.
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