MILLENNIALS CONTRIBUTING TO “SIGNIFICANT GROWTH” IN THE INDUSTRY
by Contributor
(Jul. 21, 2016) — Even though there will be those who are strong opponents of any type of gaming whatsoever, the truth is that gaming in the UK has contributed greatly to the GDP and is continuing to grow by the year. It is calculated that gaming in general contributed over £1 billion three years ago in 2013 and the industry saw a rise in that figure to over £2 billion by the end of last year, 2015. Much of this is due to an increase in smartphone usage but even that is set to double by 2017 so the outlook just gets better and better.
Online Gaming Attracting Global Investors
One of the key indicators that the online casino and gaming industry is going strong in the UK is in the number of investors being attracted to the market. Foreign investors are putting capital investments into gaming software, gaming sites and marketing which will also help to expand the industry now that the economy is on more stable ground. With employment up and more people having disposable income, investors are optimistic that revenue on gaming sites will continue to grow exponentially.
Online Gaming’s Impact on the GDP
It is all well and good to talk about online gaming’s portion of the GDP as totalling over £2 billion a few years ago, but what does that total mean in respect to other industries? In terms of gaming’s contribution to the economy, just take a look at a sector such as farming that has a farther reaching impact on the UK economy. And as that figure for 2014 was only at £10 billion you can see just how strong online gaming is in the scheme of things. But even those figures are unreliable in terms of impact because farming fell by 14% in the fourth quarter of 2014 while gaming rose that very same quarter.
Millennials Have Surpassed Boomers in Spending Capability
Only a few years ago boomers had the most buying power because the millennials hadn’t reached an age as of yet but in today’s market, the mid portion of that generation is now old enough to work. This means that the sum total of disposable income that could be spent on gaming is available to the generation that would most likely be fond of the pastime. In addition to the fact that gaming websites have been redesigned to be responsive for smartphones, there will be increasing numbers of consumers within this demographic accessing gaming sites from mobile devices. When combined with the fact that they are the largest generation and have the most disposable income it is understandable why forecasts of continued growth are optimistic.
Even with varying reports as to the stability of the overall economy in the UK, gaming is one industry that is still forecast to have significant growth in the foreseeable future. This is exciting to the industry that hopes to make a bigger profit even after larger taxes they have been forced to pay. However, it is even more exciting to gamers who rely on gaming as the number one form of entertainment they can enjoy from any device and any location. Gaming is certainly on the increase and there is no reason to believe that its incredible growth will be anything short of spectacular in the years to come.