Serious Games Market Size, Share, Growth Report 2032

Industry Prospective:

The global serious games market size was worth around USD 9 Billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around USD 32.73 Billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 18.41% between 2023 and 2030. The report analyzes the global serious games market drivers, restraints/challenges, and the effect they have on the demands during the projection period. In addition, the report explores emerging opportunities in the serious games industry.

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Serious Games Market: Overview

The serious games industry is a segment of the larger video gaming sector but deals with animated games that are designed for purposes other than pure entertainment. The main intention of serious games is to impart education, knowledge, training, problem-solving, and simulation. These games are more than often used in the military, healthcare, education, and the most recent applications are in enterprise or corporate training. The various forms of serious games include virtual reality (VR) environments, simulations, and dynamic story-telling experiences. The main difference between casual video games and serious games is that the latter tends to have engagement and is highly effective in practicing or learning new skills that are absent in traditional video games or other learning methods like in-class lectures or reading books. The industry has immense potential for growth if the players can manage certain challenges along the way.

Key Insights: 

• As per the analysis shared by our research analyst, the global serious games market is estimated to grow annually at a CAGR of around 18.41% over the forecast period (2023-2030)
• In terms of revenue, the global serious games market size was valued at around USD 9 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 32.73 billion, by 2030.
• The serious games market is projected to grow at a significant rate due to the growing demand for interactive learning experiences
• Based on end-user segmentation, the government was predicted to show maximum market share in the year 2022
• Based on application segmentation, simulation & training was the leading application in 2022
• On the basis of region, North America was the leading revenue generator in 2022

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Serious Games Market: Growth Drivers

Growing demand for interactive learning sessions and experiences to promote higher revenue

The global serious games market is expected to grow owing to the increasing competitiveness amongst the learner group as the demand for the higher interactive learning experience is registering significant growth. Serious games have gained massive following and dedicated consumer groups in various educational institutes. They have even managed corporate training events since they offer excellent learning experiences while being more interactive and dynamic as compared to other training measures. In conventional or old-school methods, the participants tend to lose interest after some time thus reducing the overall impact of the sessions. On the other hand, more engaging training methods like serious games are known to produce a higher retention rate and increase motivation amongst students or learners. As the demand for such measures grows with time, the industry players can benefit from it.

Serious Games Market: Restraints

Limited understanding and awareness of serious games to restrict the market growth

The concept of serious games is fairly new, especially in emerging economies that are currently using traditional methods of creating a learning environment. This is applicable mostly to educational institutes in less-aware economies. Many organizations are still unaware of the true potential of serious games when employed in a controlled environment. The serious games industry players need to amplify their marketing or advertisement activities to reach a broader section of the consumer group.

Serious Games Market: Opportunities

Growing use of the cloud-based system to provide excellent growth opportunities

With the increasing pace of digitization, more companies or end-user verticals are inclining toward cloud-based tools and systems. In addition to this, the smart device market has shown tremendous growth in the last decade due to several factors. Both of these reasons when combined can assist in generating excellent growth opportunities working in the favor of the global serious games market since it will not only impact the awareness rate but also assist the consumers to get comfortable with the use of advanced technologies like serious games.

Serious Games Market: Challenges

Lack of tools to measure outcome effectively poses a critical challenge for industry players

There is a significant lack of tools or ways in which the effectiveness of the outcome from the employment of serious games can be measured. This is applicable to understanding if the investment in using such games provided the intended results in terms of job performance or learning outcomes. These two factors are highly sensitive to other external factors like the learner’s intention, learning capabilities, and emotional & intellectual quotient to name a few. Hence, users may find serious games highly subjective when it comes to delivering the outcome.

Serious Games Market: Segmentation

The global serious games market is segmented based on application, gaming platform, end-user, and region.

Based on application, the global market segments are research & planning, simulation & training, human resources, advertising & marketing, and others.

• In 2022, the industry was led by the simulation & training segment as the tools and technologies corresponding to serious games are largely used to create simulated learning experiences
• When applied in this segment, the games can be used for building an interactive architecture where learners can learn and develop new skills and prepare themselves for real-world scenarios by working on decision-making ability
• Many researchers believe that a person takes almost 10,000 hours to become an expert in any particular skill
• There is high scope of growth for the advertising & marketing segment during the forecast period where companies can engage better with consumers

Based on gaming platform, the serious games industry divisions are console PC, smartphones, and others.

Based on end-user, the global market is divided into aerospace & defense, retail, education, media & entertainment, government, and others.

• The government sector is projected to register the highest revenue during the forecast period
• Serious games are used extensively to provide necessary training to military personnel in areas including leadership, logistics, and combat operations
• Another significant end-user is the education segment where serious games can be used as alternatives to traditional learning methods and improve educational outcomes. These games can also be used to teach more technical subjects like science and math including non-technical topics
• In the fiscal year 2022, the US Department of Defense allocated USD 30.4 billion for military education and training

Recent Developments:

• In November 2022, NIPANC, a Northern Ireland charity organization in collaboration with scholars from the Queen’s University Belfast along with Focus Games Limited., announced the launch of a new serious game that intends to promote educational awareness around pancreatic cancer. At the same time, the organization stated that another serious game would be launched for the medical professional to better diagnose the condition
• In January 2023, the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Ozone Secretariat announced the launch of a new serious game that uses the already existing Reset Earth Education platform to target 13 to 18-year-olds and intends to provide education with access to tools that will help them teach kids about environmental protection and its importance

Serious Games Market Report Scope:

Serious Games Market: Regional Analysis

North America to emerge as the dominant contributor

The global serious games market is anticipated to witness the highest growth in North America. This is due to the increasing demand for serious games and simulations across educational, healthcare, and military or defense sectors of the US which is home to one of the largest military groups worldwide and dedicated a significant percentage of resources for further development and training of its military personnel. Additionally, the country’s education sector has set benchmarks in terms of quality and technology adoption for many countries and continues to divert resources to ensure that the students have access to new and advanced systems which improve their learning abilities and skills. Several key players including Serious Labs Inc., IBM Corporation, and some others are housed in the US which works in the favor of regional growth.

Serious Games Market: Competitive Analysis

The global serious games market is led by players like:

• IBM Technologies
• Triseum
• Unity Technologies
• DiSTI Corporation
• Serious Labs Inc.
• Virtual Heroes
• Designing Digitally Inc.
• BreakAway Games
• Learning Games Network
• Games for Change
• Epic Games
• Filament Games
• SimX
• Cogbooks
• EON Reality
• Mursion
• PluralSight
• ImpactGames

The global serious games market is segmented as follows:

By Application

• Research & Planning
• Simulation & Training
• Human Resources
• Advertising & Marketing
• Others

By Gaming Platform

• Console PC
• Smartphone
• Others

By End-User

• Aerospace & Defense
• Retail, Education
• Media & Entertainment
• Government
• Others

By Region

• North America
  • The U.S.
  • Canada
• Europe
  • France 
  • The UK
  • Spain
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Rest of Europe
• Asia Pacific
  • China
  • Japan
  • India
  • South Korea
  • Southeast Asia
  • Rest of Asia Pacific
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Rest of Latin America
• Middle East & Africa
  • GCC
  • South Africa
  • Rest of Middle East & Africa