Mobile gaming will be a $45B market by 2018, leaving console gaming way behind

As the smartphone continues to take over the world, mobile gaming will outpace the rest of the industry.

Spending on gaming software across all platforms will reach $88 billion this year, according to research from intelligence firm Digi-Capital. The company also forecasts that number will grow 8 percent annually and will surpass $110 billion by 2018. And mobile will drive that growth more than any other sector as spending on smartphones and tablets will already generate more revenue than console games this year — although that doesn’t include sales from hardware like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 systems. And it also doesn’t include PC games on Steam or free-to-play megahits like League of Legends.