Newzoo's global game market forecast.
Newzoo's global game market forecast.
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Newzoo: Global game market will shrink in 2021 for first time in many years

For the first time in many years, the global video game industry is forecast to shrink slightly in 2021, according to a new report from game and esports data firm Newzoo.

It’s kind of a “sky is falling” moment that isn’t exactly something to panic about. The game industry is still on track to surpass $200 billion by 2023, according to Newzoo. But this is the first time since Newzoo started tracking numbers in 2012 that the game industry will contract. The market is expected to hit $175.8 billion in 2021, down 1.1% from $177.8 billion in 2020, Newzoo games market lead Tom Wijman said in an interview with GamesBeat.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.