The global spending on the gaming ecosystem is expected to rise substantially with major technology and business model transitions driving the growth of the industry, research firm Gartner today said.
"The worldwide spending on the gaming ecosystem (gaming hardware, software, mobile and PC games) will exceed $74 billion in 2011, up 10.4% from 2010 spending of $67 billion. By 2015, spending will reach $112 billion," Gartner said in a statement.
Of this, gaming hardware and online gaming is expected to reach $27.35 billion and $28.29 billion respectively by the end of 2015, Gartner said.
Gaming software is expected to contribute $44.7 billion in 2011 and will continue to dominate the overall gaming market in the next five years ($56.5 billion at 2015) as it absorbs almost two-thirds of consumers' gaming budgets, it added.
"This large market size means that many consumers embrace gaming as a core piece of their entertainment budget and will continue to play as long as game publishers deliver compelling and fun games," Gartner research director Fabrizio Biscotti said.
Within the gaming software market, mobile gaming is expected to experience the largest growth with its share expanding from 15% in 2010 to 20% in 2015.
"As the popularity of smart phones and tablets continues to expand, gaming will remain a key component in the use of these devices. Although they are never used primarily for gaming, mobile games are the most downloaded application category across most application stores," Gartner principal research analyst Tuong Nguyenat said.
For this reason, mobile gaming will continue to thrive as more consumers expand their use of new and innovative portable connected devices, Nguyenat added.
The ecosystem includes console makers like Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, software for devices like Xbox 360, PlayStation and Wii, handheld consoles like Game Boy Advance, Nintendo besides PC gaming software, mobile and online gaming.