Despite the COVID-19 pandemic destroying businesses all around the world, the research by Grand View suggests that the gaming industry will face significant growth in the next months. The number of new users hits records every day spent in quarantine, visible via the increase in downloading. For example, Call of Duty: Warzone recorded unprecedented six million downloads in one day.
Gaming industry
If you are interested in investing in this sector, consider the Czech Republic as your expansion option. According to BrnoRegion, the Czech Republic is an exceptionally appealing country for game developers, producing some of the world’s most famous video games. In 2018, the country recorded $0.4 billion worth of video game sales. In such an environment, investing in the Czech gaming market might be just the right time to enter this successful niche.
Game Market Insights
According to Grand View Research, the global gaming market size was valued at $151.06 billion in 2019. The expected growth is even more amusing: between the years 2020-2027, the expansion will continue at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.9%. In Europe, the industry is projected to expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5%, reaching $ 34.9 billion by 2030. As of 2020, European countries with the highest game revenues are Germany, the UK, and France.
U.S. video game market size, by device
Since over 30% of the European population use their smartphones for gaming, it is no surprise that according to Goldstein Market Intelligence, the mobile gaming sector will see the biggest growth in the same period at a CAGR of 9,6%. Considering the rapid expansion of the segment, the research states that over 60% of the European gaming companies were registered in the last five years – and your company can become one of them.
According to the researches, accessibility to games – and, of course, technological innovations paired with the increasing number of people using the Internet – will allow for stable growth of the industry. According to the ESA 2018 Sales, Demographic, and Usage Data release, US households play games on the following platforms:
Offline games dominated the market in 2019, but the results for 2020 might shift – online games’ demand is growing exponentially. That is also suggested with the fact that the world’s leading game developers are starting to offer online platforms. According to Statista, the global revenue for online games will be valued at $18,219 m in 2020.
How Big is the Czech Gaming Market?
According to the Association of Czech Game Developers, game development is one of the key movers of the Czech digital economy. Statista’s research suggests that the video games sector will reach $96 million in 2020 and will continue to grow at a CAGR of 0.8%, reaching the value of $100 million by 2025.
Gaming Market
In fact, the gaming industry is one of the largest in the Czech Republic, twice outgrowing the TV and film industries. Echo24 says that in 2019, the turnover of Czech businesses specializing in gaming was valued at 4,5 billion CZK with an increase of 20% from the last year and as much as 50% in comparison with the last two years. In 2020, the turnover is expected to further increase by 10%, reaching 5 billion CZK since, over the pandemic, the sales of Czech games grew by about 30%. BrnoRegions suggests that for a relatively small country, the Czech Republic’s gaming sector is doing incredibly well, annually producing some of the most recognized games in the world.
As of 2019, there are 1,750 workers employed in the gaming segment in the Czech Republic, which is 260 employees more than in 2018. To be more specific about those making up the largest portion, 21% of them are programmers and 19% are graphic designers. Every year, around three hundred new jobs open in this segment according to Media Guru.
Statista’s research defines the biggest Czech gaming segment to be download games. When it comes to produced games, 95% of the revenues come from abroad – specifically, from countries like Germany, the USA, UK, China, and Russia.
As of 2019, there are 110 game developing companies in the Czech Republic – 11 of them were established in 2019, 12 – in 2018. In the same year, 67% of the developed games were to be used with a console, 41% with mobile, and 16% with the web.
Initiatives and Support for the Gaming Industry in Czechia
The Association of Czech Game Developers is a non-profit organization, which consists of twenty-four Czech gaming studios. It provides direct support for the development and research of the industry within the country. Annually, they publish reports monitoring the gaming environment in the country and propose solutions for the better functioning of the industry.
Czech Game Developers Association
“The main goal is to work together to develop educational programs for future developers, improve the conditions for the development of games in the Czech Republic and make a significant contribution to the growth of this industry, ” said Pavel Barák from the Association of Czech Game Developers, MediaGuru reports.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade already developed several programs to support the gaming industry and they are planning to pay more attention to this sector after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the context of the post-coronavirus period, we see a huge opportunity in the cultural and creative industries and their impact on the economy.” Robin Čumpelík, the coordinator of innovation strategy from the Ministry of Industry, commented on the E15 daily.
Furthermore, universities already offer educational support to the industry by providing various degrees in game development. Among them are some of the Czech most prestigious schools, including Charles University (graduates worked with Pixar and Weta Digital) and Masaryk University (at least twelve relevant courses are offered). This way, the country produces the world’s leading professionals in the gaming industry. Therefore, any company wishing to expand to the Czech Republic in this segment will find a wide variety of skilled individuals to choose from.
The Czech Republic also hosts various events for the gaming community, such as the international Game Access Conference, which discusses how to proceed in the market.
Famous Game Companies in the Czech Republic
Bohemia Interactive is one of the largest video game developers in the Czech Republic. Based in Prague, the company has produced multiple extremely successful games, including Operation Flashpoint, which topped the retail charts in the US, several European countries, and Australia. According to the company’s website, they already won several awards, including the 2001 Best PC Game Developer award at London’s ECTS exhibition, Rookie Studio of the Year award at GDC 2002, and the Independent Studio 2014 award at the Develop Awards in Brighton.
Famous Game Companies in the Czech Republic
Amanita Design is another independent Czech video game developer, which is also based in Prague. It is operated in teams who work on creating various games. Its most famous game is Samorost 2 – an adventure story developed for Windows, Linux, and OS X. In 2007, the game won the Webby Award and the Independent Games Festival award.
Warhorse Studios is a Prague-based game development company, which creates games primarily for PC and console. Recently, it was acquired by the German-Austrian Koch Media. Their most famous game is a historically set Kingdom Come: Deliverance, released in 2018. They already sold over three million units of it and won more than thirty awards. The company currently employs over 130 workers.
Conclusion
The Czech Republic’s gaming industry is a segment with stable projected growth, a skilled workforce, and competent research organizations. Whether you choose the Czech Republic or any other European country for gaming investment, you are promised to enter an economically stable, secure, and profitable market.
If you wish to establish your gaming company in the Czech Republic, YeYe Agency can support you in the following ways:
- Establishing your company
- Supporting you in the incentives procedures and asking for funds
- Recruiting your local employees
- Providing accounting and payroll services
- Providing access to an online platform that enables you to manage your Czech company from anywhere
