Latin American games market is the second fastest growing in the world

A report from Newzoo has revealed that the Latin American games market is the second fastest growing sector in the world, and that this year the region will generate $4.1b in video game revenues.

This is a year-on-year rise of 20 per cent for the emerging market, and slots Latin America into place just behind Southeast Asia in terms of games market growth around the world. Latin America also boasts a growing console market, with a nine per cent increase year-on-year in tersm of revenue, although it’s the older consoles that remain the most popular. Newzoo has highlighted that the cheaper, older (and easier to pirate) formats are the most successful, with the PlayStation 2 remaining popular in Argentina.

Mobile remains the faster growing segment in the area however, up by nearly 56 per cent year-on-year. In total, $1.4bn is expected to be generated by gaming on mobile by the end of this year, which brings it equal with the PC market and a little ahead of the console, which NewZoo predict will generate $1.3bn this year.

After this year, Newzoo has estimated that by 2019 Latin America could see mobile revenues as high as the PC and console revenues combined. The company do admit that the Nintendo Switch and rise of virtual reality could buoy the console market over the next few years however.