The South African games industry in numbers

04.03.2024 - 11:35 / gamesindustry.biz

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Of the many markets found throughout the African continent, South Africa is – as we discussed with the organisers of Africa Games week – one of the most prominent. Hence our week-long editorial special dedicated to its games industry.

While we'll be exploring the development scene in depth, it's worth beginning with a look at the games industry in general, including the size of the audience and the revenue it generates, for which we've consulted market research firm Newzoo.

We've also scoured through a 2021 report by Tshimologong Wits University to get a clearer sense of the developer landscape.

2023 revenue: $266 million
Average player spend per annum: $25.50

Last year, South Africa accounted for approximately $266 million in video games spending, according to Newzoo. To put this in a global context, this is 0.14% of the $184 billion the data firm estimated was spent on video games worldwide last year.

However, Newzoo emphasised the continued growth of the South African market, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 4.7% since 2020. It is also expected to continue growing to $333 million by 2026, a CAGR of 7.8%.

Mobile represented the vast majority of games spending in South Africa in 2023, accounting for 91% of revenue. PC is slightly more lucrative than consoles at 5% of total spending vs 4%.

The average player spent just over $25 per year on games last year, mostly on in-game microtransactions given the popularity of mobile titles.

Newzoo reported that the most popular console and PC games in 2023, in terms of monthly active users, were as follows:

Total number of players: 26.5 million
Proportion of population that plays video games: 44%
Gender split of players: 53% men vs 46% women

Newzoo told us that 26.5 million people in South Africa played video games last year, showing a CAGR of 5.4% since 2020. The company estimated this accounts for 44% of the nation's population.

85% of these players have played a mobile game within the past six months, while only 15% have played a console title.

The gender split is said to be 53% male, 46% female within the gaming population.

The majority of the audience is aged 14 to 28, accounting for almost half (47.6%) of the gaming population. The next largest demographic is slightly older (29 to 42) at 30.8%. Children of 10-years-old or younger account for 12.1% of the gaming population.

As with other markets, watching livestreamed games content via platforms such as Twitch is increasingly popular, with 64% of the gaming population tuning into this content regularly. This is more popular with men, who account for 57% of the viewership, compared to women at 42%. 61% of South African gamers both play games and