Niko Partners managing partner Lisa Cosmas Hanson expects the Southeast Asian games market to double in value from US$661 million to US$1.2 billion by 2017. Mobile and PC games will be the key drivers of growth in the region, according to a recent survey by the analyst firm.
“Mobile games are booming in Southeast Asia as they are worldwide,” noted Hanson. “Yet client-based PC online gaming remains vibrant and will continue to experience aggressive revenue growth over the five-year forecast period.”
Hanson also revealed that about 25 per cent of the 15,000 Southeast Asian gamers surveyed by Niko partners did not play mobile games, but rather PC MMOs at Internet cafes.
“We were surprised to find out that many Southeast Asian hardcore PC gamers ignore mobile gaming all together,” added Hanson.
The Southeast Asian region, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, currently has about 85 million gamers, and Niko Partners also predicts this figure to rise to 132 million over the next three years.
