Top 5 Emerging Online Gaming Markets in 2020

Emerging economies are impacting online gaming tremendously, from South Korea and South Africa to India and Brazil. In some countries, gaming has become such a massive industry that it’s employing a significant portion of the population.

Of course, it isn’t just emerging economies with growing gaming communities. Some established nations also have ballooning gaming communities. Below is an outline of the top seven countries where gaming is a budding industry.

   India

Home to some of the best mobile PUBG pro-gamers, India is attracting immense attention in the gaming world. First off, ESL, Overwatch, and PUBG all have events scheduled to take place in the country this then.

Then there’s the iGaming industry that’s fast establishing itself in the sub-continent. In fact, gaming at online casinos is mushrooming rapidly, even though India has strict anti-gambling laws.

But there’s a valid explanation for it. India’s gambling laws were created years before online gambling became a thing. As a result, they do not prohibit gaming at offshore casinos, which is what’s happening in the country.

Back to video games, India’s gaming scene is hugely dominated by young mobile gamers. PUBG is the most played eSports game in the country, followed by Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Apex Legends.

Canada

Gaming isn’t precisely new in Canada. However, there’s such a huge upswing in the number of Canadian streamers that they generate nearly $4 billion to their country’s economy.

To expound more on Canada’s growing gaming culture, 61% of the country identify as gamers. That’s according to a study by the University of British Columbia. Surprisingly, nearly half of the players prefer to play on their smartphones.

What games do Canadians love? Fortnite, PUBG, Minecraft, League of Legends, and Dota 2 are pretty popular among Canada’s top Twitch streamers.

Similar to India, Canada’s gambling laws were written way before online casinos came along. And that means the country doesn’t prosecute Canadians who play slots, blackjack, poker and similar games at offshore casinos.

US iGaming Sector

The US is one of the largest video game markets in the world. But lately, it’s also become a hub for online casinos, at least since 2018, when the Supreme Court allowed states to regulate remote casino gaming.

Truth be told, not many states have legalized the industry despite having the powers to do so. New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania are the only jurisdictions where online casino games of all sorts can be played.

That means you can play poker, blackjack, roulette or craps on your favorite table games’ casino. You can also cherish a long list of slots at dozens of online casinos or play bingo and scratch card games. These states also have legal sports betting laws, from horse betting to the NFL and the NBA.

Fortunately, up to 25 states have plans to legalize online casinos in the next several months. Some have already licensed poker websites or sports betting but not slots and other games of pure chance.

New Zealand

With nearly close to half of adults over 65 years identifying as gamers, New Zealand has a robust gaming culture. What’s more, 48% of the country’s players are female, so it isn’t just young males who stream.

In fact, 79% of gamer parents also play with their kids, showing the culture runs deep in New Zealand’s fabric. Surprisingly, the nation gaming industry hasn’t always been huge or dominated by all demographics.

Gaming in New Zealand exploded in the last five years, both video and casino gaming. The latter happens even though the Kiwi governments have harsh anti-gambling laws. That’s because, as you are probably guessing, the country’s laws don’t prohibit gambling in offshore casinos.

South Africa

With a gaming industry worth $193 million, South Africa is Africa’s frontier in the gaming world. The sector is projected to mushroom at a 10.2% rate for the next several years, with video games leading the way in popularity.

Crucially, South Africa isn’t just relying on foreign developers to create games. The country is home to a handful of game developers like Celestial, whose Toxic Bunny game has sold over 150,000 copies.

The eSports community in South Africa is relatively small, but it’s spiraling with each that passes by. The country is also represented accordingly on Twitch, with the top broadcasters having hundreds of thousands of subscribers.

South Africa’s casino gaming market is also on the rise. And similar to New Zealand and Canada, it’s spearheaded by foreign casinos based in the UK, Malta, and other jurisdictions.

Nigeria

Nigeria has a gaming landscape similar to that of India. It’s dominant on mobile gaming and is projected to fast track to a value of $126 million by 2023. And that’s just for app-based mobile gaming.

Depending on how fast Nigeria grows in the next five years, it could nurture a considerable gaming population on all platforms. Luckily, Nigeria is Africa’s biggest economy and is one of the top merging economies in the world.

That means its middle class is projected to continue growing with time. In turn, its gaming population could surge both video and casino gaming. In the meanwhile, Nigerian gamers rely on foreign-made games almost entirely, with very few home-based games.

Sweden

If you are like many gaming fans, PewDiePie is the first gamer to come to mind when people mention Swedish streamers. Real name Felix Kjellberg, the YouTuber, made his wealth and earned his fame mostly by commenting on gaming-related activities.

However, PewDiePie isn’t the only famous streamer from Sweden. On Twitch, at least a dozen channels run by Swedish streamers have 5,000 subscribers. Fragbite is the most popular among them, with nearly 20,000 subscribers.

According to analytical firm Statista, the Swedish gaming sector is powered primarily by young gamers aged 15 to 25 years old. The millennial generation follows next, with older players seldom watching Twitch streams.

When it comes to iGaming, Sweden is one of the most progressive countries in Europe. It has a fully-fledged gambling regulation board. It permits online gambling and does not charge taxes to winners.