Music, film, and TV once controlled the digital entertainment space, but now it’s dominated by gaming. Be it on a dedicated console, computer, or smartphone, a huge percentage of the world’s population is playing games in its downtime. Now, the global games market is worth in excess of $175 billion, with mobile gaming making up just over half of that revenue.
Gaming truly is a global phenomenon, particularly thanks to the increased adoption and accessibility of smartphones. Over the last few years, hundreds of millions of people across India and in many African nations have suddenly joined the gaming scene as a result. Here, we’re looking at some of the biggest, most prolific, and somewhat surprising gaming nations and the games dominating their scenes.
The gaming capital of the world
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The gaming capital of the world right now is China. In the online world, gamers have known for a long time that there are millions of Chinese players in some of the world’s most popular titles. Still, it’s difficult to comprehend the true scale of gaming’s popularity in the vast Asian nation. According to figures from 2018, there were over 660 million gamers in China, with around 325.4 million of them being PC gamers.
China boasts a great many eSports stars, with many of the highest earners having claimed their total winnings from one big event. You’ve got Somnus丶M, fy, Ame, y`, Faith_bian, iceice, Shadow, bLink, Chalice, and KaKa who earned between $1.83 million and $3 billion from one payout. The connection between these players, other than that they’re from China, is that they all achieved these massive paydays by playing DOTA 2.
DOTA 2 is the biggest game for Chinese teams, with some 110 teams earning the glut of China’s total eSports earnings. However, the team and player spread across popular games is more diverse than the DOTA 2 success would suggest. There’s a huge, but less well-supported professionally, following for Overwatch, which is followed by Heroes of the Storm. Now that Overwatch features cross-play to connect all platforms, it’s become even more competitive.
The Great White North creates some true cult classics
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The United States is well-known for having massive gaming corporations that produce some huge games and tend to gobble up smaller studios and acquire their talents. Just over the border to the north, however, some incredible games have been made that continue to hold a cult following. The likes of Celeste, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Mass Effect, Night in the Woods, and Gears Tactics were all crafted in Canada.
Like the country to the south, Canada boasts a storied and avid gaming population, which has, undoubtedly, been the foundation of its successful and innovative developers. It was found that, of people aged between 18 and 34-years-old, 68 percent of females play videos games, averaging 8.5 hours per week, while 89 percent of males, averaging around 12 hours per week. A popular crossover game between the two sexes is Call of Duty.
It’s not just video gaming that’s popular in Canada, though, with the nation standing as the fourth-largest country for gambling. The widespread and high-speed connection to the internet has greatly helped this, as has the allowance of online casinos to operate in Canada’s online space. Another factor that has also grown the popularity of the games is the casino no deposit bonus, which allows people to try the games without committing any money. So, people can experience these pay-to-play games without an initial risk.
The secret superpower in Scandinavia
When people think about Sweden and gaming, one name often comes to mind: PewDiePie. One of the first mega-famous YouTube stars who shot to fame through gaming, Felix Kjellberg’s channel became the most-subscribed on YouTube in 2013, with him playing games like Call of Duty, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and a game forged by his compatriots, Minecraft.
Indie development team Mojang Studios released Minecraft in 2009, which eventually became the best-selling game of all time. Alongside Mojang, developers like DICE and King have furthered Sweden’s footprint in global gaming. Now, in excess of one billion gamers have played a game made by Swedes. Like China, Swedes have also found a great deal of success in DOTA 2’s eSports scene, with s4 and Zai getting over $2.5 million each from the eSports title. However, the surging competitive game is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
While many would have assumed that China was the largest gaming nation in the world, Canada and Sweden being such huge forces may come as a surprise to many.
