The latest data tells us that gaming is bigger than ever. There are 3.2 billion gamers around the world — so just over 1 in 3 people — and the overall gaming market is currently valued at $282 billion, making it one of the most profitable on the planet. Simply put, people love to play video games. However, some believe there’s been a shift in “gaming culture”, with the overriding belief that it’s no longer as social as it used to be. Instead, gaming has now become much more restricted and single-player focused — but just how true is this?
Social Gaming Is Growing — And It Will Soon Be a $39 Billion Industry
According to Business Research Insights, the global social gaming market is worth $15.19 billion in 2024 and will reach a value of $39.44 billion by the time 2032 rolls around. What does this tell us? Well, it shows that social gaming (despite some skepticism) is actually on the rise. This is mainly being driven by younger generations, with 40% of Gen Z and Millenials stating that they socialize more in video games than in real life. Essentially, what’s happening is that a large number of gamers are now using video games specifically for social purposes above everything else. Sure, the entertainment side is still important — but being able to socialize with other players is one of the biggest benefits.
Why the Social Gaming Industry Continues to Grow
More ‘Social’ Gaming Platforms
Over the past decade, there’s been a significant increase in the number of gaming sites and platforms that are specifically designed for socializing. Perhaps the best example of this has been the explosion of social casinos, such as Mega Bonanza Casino. In a nutshell, these are online casinos where players don’t bet real money. Instead, all of the games are free-to-play and people are encouraged to interact and make friends with each other, whether it’s through chat lobbies or blackjack tournaments. This has even led to the likes of WOW Vegas and Chumba Casino attracting over 1 million users, showing just how popular these types of sites have become.
Kick and Twitch Influence
Kick and Twitch are officially the two biggest streaming platforms for gamers. On these platforms, it’s very common for users to watch streamers play popular social games — such as PUBG Mobile and GTA V — which then encourages them to go and play, too. And many of these social games are also free-to-play, which we’ll talk about next.
Rise of Free-to-Play Games
When social games are available to download for free, people are much more likely to download them. This is why there’s been a huge transition over recent years, as millions of gamers have switched from premium titles to free-to-play games. Most of these F2P games are ad-supported, which allows them to hit the market without charging customers for them.
A Decrease in Real-World Socializing
There’s been a huge decrease in real-world socializing ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. Understandably, this has led to more people using video games as a platform for meeting like-minded people and making new friends. Whether this trend will continue remains to be seen, but it seems highly likely that video games — along with communication apps like Discord — are going to keep growing in relevance over the coming decades for this exact reason.
The Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Everybody remembers the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the world. Around 3.9 billion people were locked down and stuck at home, which led to an incredible increase in the number of people gaming. From console to PC, people were spending hours a day playing Call of Duty: Warzone, Among Us, and countless other popular games, with this trend sticking around ever since. Essentially, people found a new hobby for life during the pandemic — and they’re still gaming more than ever several years later.
How the Social Side of Gaming Has Changed Since the 2000s and 2010s
Even though the wider social gaming industry is on the rise and gaming has hit a new peak in terms of overall popularity, there’s still a general feeling amongst gamers that video games have become less social. They attribute this to a range of factors, such as:
- Party chat replacing public server chat
- Players are now communicating over platforms that aren’t in-game (e.g. Discord)
- Games are highly moderated and often have chat restrictions placed on them
- Matchmaking systems encourage players to switch from lobby to lobby instead of sticking with the same group of people
- The rise of ‘trolling’ and ‘toxicity’ has discouraged many players from buying multiplayer games
It’s clear that there’s definitely been a decrease in the traditional socializing that we used to see in the gaming world during the 2000s and 2010s. Now, people are no longer diving into public lobbies and making random friends. Instead, they’re playing with smaller groups of gamers who (a lot of the time) they have met through Discord and other similar platforms.
Last Thoughts
One thing is for sure: social gaming will never die. Instead, it will continue to evolve, as we’ve seen over the past decade or so. As a whole, social gaming is now bigger than it’s ever been before, but a large part of the actual socializing is done via Discord and private party chats. There’s also been a huge swing in the number of people using social gaming sites — such as social casinos — which is another trend that will almost certainly continue for years to come. And as a gamer, this is great news, as so many of today’s social games and sites are completely free to use.
