• The global market for gaming content is on track to be valued globally at US$79bn by 2025.
• Australia’s eSports revenue is expected to grow to $16m by 2025 at a CAGR of 21.2%.
• The Commonwealth has a combined population of more than 2.4 billion with more than 60% under the age of 30.

Australia’s total eSports revenue is set to grow to $16 million by 2025 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.2% from 2019-2025, a PwC report said.

The sector is poised to almost triple in size from 2020 when it was valued at $6 million.

According to Adroit Market Research, the market for gaming content is on track to be valued globally at US$79 billion by 2025.

Twitch is now a leader in entertainment platforms where on average 93 billion minutes are watched per month across 26.5 million daily users. Daily, Twitch users are spending an average of three hours on the platform, whereas Netflix users spend an average just of two hours streaming per day.

In May 2021, the Federal Government announced a 30% refundable tax offset for video game development, which will be available from July 1 this year.

The incentive will support Australia taking a greater share of the global game development market, and changes to the way Aussie businesses can claim depreciation of intangible assets like intellectual property and in-house software.

The Australian eSports market faces a similar challenge to the UK, in that ready access to a thriving English-language scene in the US makes it more difficult to establish local activity, the report said.

However, there is an opportunity for eSports to turn the casual gamers and viewers into active participants and fans in order to grow the category.

The Global Esports Federation and the Commonwealth Games Federation have unveiled three major titles for the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships that will take place in Birmingham this August .

Dota 2, eFootball, and Rocket League will be featured in the event. eSports athletes from all around the world will participate in the open and women categories for each game.

Dota 2 and Rocket League are already well-known on the competitive eSports scene, however Konami’s eFootball had a somewhat difficult debut in October 2021, with the company apologising for some of its problems.

The Commonwealth has a combined population of more than 2.4 billion with more than 60% under the age of 30.

“This is a vital group for the Commonwealth Sport Movement to engage with, and eSports can be an important part of this work due to its huge popularity and reach with young people across the world,” said Katie Sadleir, CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation.

The inaugural entry of eSports into the Commonwealth Games in this year’s event will be a pilot and no medals will be given to the winners.