According to a report from gaming intelligence firm SuperData Research, worldwide digital games sales hit a record $61 billion in 2015, which represents a growth of 8 percent over revenues reported in 2014. Annual revenues in the digital games market are again expected to set a new record in 2016 if projections by Newzoo are accurate. In the firm’s 2016 Global Games Market report, Newzoo estimates that the worldwide digital games market will generate $99.6 billion in revenues, which would be another 8+ percent increase year over year. Included in that figure, Newzoo estimates that mobile games will generate $36.9 billion or 37% of the global market. Newzoo says that the Computer Screen is the most lucrative on a global scale, with revenues of almost $32 billion. The vast majority of this will come from mid-core PC/MMO games (Pocket Starships falls into this category as well), while casual web game revenues continue to decline.
This is followed closely by the Entertainment Screen (TV/Console), which will grow to $29.0 billion. The Personal Screen (smartphones) is the fastest growing with a Year over Year growth rate of 23.7% and by 2018 will take the lead globally. The Floating Screen (tablets & handheld consoles) remains the least important gaming screen, with revenues of $11.6 billion. Clearly the worldwide explosion in the use of mobile devices is adding to the exponential growth in the industry. In the U.S. alone, smartphone users will surpass 200 million by 2017 according to eMarketer, which represents nearly 65% of the country’s entire population.
SPYR Inc’s Pocket Starships (OTCMKTS:SPYR) enjoys over other games is that it is designed in such a way that it’s ideally positioned to enter the growing electronic sports or “eSports” market in 2016. eSports is a thriving world within the games industry that is exploding in popularity worldwide. ESPN and FOX Sports are broadcasting it, Yahoo has an app for it, and Turner Broadcasting, the parent company of SPYR, Inc. July 5, 2016 11 CNN, TNT and TBS, host it. Even Bud Light is getting involved in eSports. Yes, the same Bud Light that is a huge sponsor of the NFL and the NBA is now taking an interest in becoming the first beer brand in the space as advertisers and sponsors vie for their place in the burgeoning industry. This competitive video gaming known as eSports is growing at an alarming rate. In its report on the growth of the eSports audience, Newzoo estimates that there are currently about 1.1 billion people around the world who are aware of what eSports is and that number is expected to grow by 400 million people in three short years to more than 1.5 billion people by 2019.
eSports is a world where video games are played competitively for an audience of millions – both online, on sites like Twitch www.twitch.tv, and/or in front of tens of thousands of fans in arenas. These games are called MOBA’s or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games and include familiar titles like; World or Warcraft, Call of Duty and League of Legends. There are professional teams in this eSports world and increasingly big salaries and prizes as more and more sponsors pile into the market. Conceptually, Pocket Starships is right at home in the eSports arena. The game’s real-time space battles, where players join one of two factions and fight for interstellar dominance, can be perfectly molded into a tournament format. SPYR announced that an update to Pocket Starships, which would allow for tournament modes and position the game for entry into eSports, SPYR, Inc is in the early stages, and the company is very excited about the prospects for Pocket Starships in eSports.
Nintendo Co., Ltd (ADR) (OTCMKTS:NTDOY) is slated to launch a mini version of its iconic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in the U.S. on November 11. The company has already shared the pricing details of the revamped video game console and it hopes that appealing to the hearts of Nintendo fans of the 1980s will fuel sales of the device.
However, there is an area that the revived NES could turn a disappointment for today’s active gamers. Look, Nintendo tells us that the mini NES console will launch with 30 preinstalled games and then it goes ahead to say that no one will be allowed to add more games to the console. In other words, the 30 titles that come with NES will be all that a gamer can enjoy with the device. The 30 preinstalled games in the mini NES include titles such as Balloon Fight, Castlevania, Donkey Kong, Excitebike and Galaga. Once you have exhausted playing all the 30 titles, you can only rewind them or put your console in the store or donate it to a friend because for you there is no room to add more games to continue having fun with the mini NES.
The other potential source of disappointment is that Nintendo has intentionally refused to enable Internet connection to the new NES. Furthermore, there is no way you can connect the console to an external storage device. But there is an HDMI cable to connect the console to the large screen. Nintendo will sell the modernized NES in the U.S. for $60 and controllers will go for $10 each for those who are pursuing two-player mode. Nintendo first introduced NES in the U.S. in the 1980s and it was serious hit. The return of the renewed NES will certainly spark some nostalgic memories among Nintendo fans from the past decades. Nintendo has not said how much it hopes to generate in revenue from the sale of the new NES, but the device is coming to market at a time when smartphones are disrupting the legacy games console industry.
