Newzoo: Southeast Asia’s billion-dollar gaming market to double by 2017

Southeast Asia is one of the fastest-growing regions for gaming thanks to increased adoption of smartphones and movement to cities in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, and the expansion is not slowing down.

Consumers in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam spent $1.1 billion on games in 2014, according to market-research firm Newzoo. The analysts at Newzoo expect the region to continue growing at a compound rate of around 28.8 percent, which would mean Southeast Asia will generate $2.2 billion in games spending by 2017. More than 626 million people live in the countries that make up Southeast Asia, but only 29 percent (179 million people) have access to the Internet. And among that group, gaming is one of the top activities. The global gaming industry has surpassed $93 billion, and developing nations will play a big part in that number growing past the $100 billion milestone in the future.