The rise of gaming may lead to the rise of immersive cinema
According to the Global Games Market Report 2018 by Newzoo it took more than 35 years for the global games business to grow to $35 billion in 2007, the year that the iPhone was introduced. Since then, the games market has added an extra $100 billion in revenues to arrive at this year’s total of $137.9 billion worldwide. The uptake of smartphones has been a key contributor to the accelerated growth of the games market, in terms of both engagement and revenues, but is only one of the many factors that have brought us to where we are today.
The number of gamers has grown to more than 2.3 billion globally, and nearly 95% of them play mobile games. The number of people with access to the internet in emerging markets has grown dramatically in the past years, due to the global expansion of Chinese smartphone manufacturers offering affordable smartphones and local government investment in mobile internet infrastructure.
Special attention in the Global Games Market Report 2018 is paid to the rise of immersive and competitive gaming on mobile. Launched at the end of 2015, Tencent’s Honor of Kings was the highest-grossing mobile game in 2017 and boasts 200 million monthly active users in China alone. By limiting the time spent per match and the number of abilities flying on screen at one time, Tencent created a mobile MOBA experience that rivals PC MOBAs in competitiveness. Netmarble’s Lineage II: Revolution offered an immersive massive multiplayer experience with stunning visuals, but limited the typical grind associated with MMO-RPGs with an auto-play mechanic that lets players focus on other tasks while playing the game. Fortnite for iOS and PUBG Mobile show that Western markets are equally ready for core gaming experiences on mobile.
In the wake of the rise of immersive gaming IMT (Immersive Media Technologies) launching Deep.Movie project. Its unique immersive system for watching films is based on the technology of video games streaming. Each film looks like a computer program located on the server and managed by the audience. The viewer will feel like a creator of the show. In addition to the choice of the narrative which has become classic (how the character will act, how the events will unfold), Deep.Movie provides the audience with new possibilities of building the world of the movie, switching between characters and even «communicating» with them. As early as in the first package of Deep.Movie each movie will be different in terms of its own method of use of technology.
But why the rise of gaming may lead to the rise of immersive cinema? Clairfield International reports in the Gaming Industry and Market Report 2018 that the size of the global video game market will accrue to about USD 90.1 billion in 2020 from USD 78.6bn in 2017. This would imply an increase of approximately 14.6%. By far, the largest gaming markets are located in China, the United States, and Japan. The European share of the gaming market is rather small compared to the frontrunners. Germany, the United Kingdom, and France generate accumulated revenues of only approximately USD 11.5 billion. In comparison, Japan alone makes up USD 12.6 billion in gaming revenues. However, this also implies that there is a huge untouched market with millions of potential buyers who would likely spend money on games or alternatively, gaming equipment.
In 2016, game deals reached an accumulated total amount of USD 30.3 billion. Approximately 94.0% of the total volume (28.4 billion) can be attributed to mergers and acquisitions. The remaining 1.9 billion were investments into tech, mobile, web, console/PC, AR/VR, MMO/ MBO and eSports.
M&A activity surpassed its previous record of 2014 by 77.0%. Further, investments of USD 1.9 billion were the second highest ever recorded. Roughly 85% of the total M&A deal value can be associated with the mobile gaming sector. The rest is divided by MMO/MOBA, console/PC and tech.
Another prerequisite for investing in immersive projects is the growing interest of the industry professionals. The Venice Gap-Financing Market announced a call for the projects and a business event for the industry professionals as part of the Venice Production Bridge in the networks of the 75th Venice International Film Festival. All the invited professionals were decision-makers. 46 projects were selected: 17 projects (10 from Europe and 7 from outside of Europe) for feature-length fiction films from around the world that need to complete their funding package with minority shares in the co-production, having at least 70% of the funding in place.
Deep.Movie focuses on the emerging markets. Marketing campaigns launching by Deep.Movie will affect the most active audience of rapidly growing gaming platforms. The project team has gained support of the industry professionals and ready to discuss investing opportunities. Please fill the FORM to join the White List.
