E-gaming and competitive gaming are the global trends right now that have emerged recently and have already started to impact global economics quickly, gaming industry is on the rise in Pakistan with the video games segment projected to cross $200 million in 2023 with an annual growth rate of 9.77 percent from 2023-2027.
This was stated by Muhammad Zohaib Khan, Chairman Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA).
With a focus on mobile gaming – and, mobile games alone have generated $ 171.30 million in the year 2022, Khan said while talking to media.
As per the latest statistics, $ 21.34 million were generated by online games and $ 16.13 million through download games as well.
Pakistan currently has around 8,500 game developers in three major sub-sectors; namely, gaming products, middleware, and gaming services. It can easily add 3000 gaming developers to the HR pool every year; and, in that fashion, Pakistan can comfortably attain a 30 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in the gaming industry’s foreign remittances – provided we can invest in HR and skills development for the aspiring game developers.
P@SHA chief predicted that the revenue in the video games segment is projected to cross $ 200 million in 2023; with an annual growth rate of 9.77 percent from 2023-2027. However, this is not enough, given the true potential and expandable HR pool of Pakistan’s gaming industry, he added.
Khan referred to Statista Market Forecast and International Trade Center (ITC) and informed that Pakistan has the potential to become the next regional hub in game development as its 64 percent population is young; and, through targeted skills development, Pakistan can surpass its yearly projections.
Another big area of gaming is VR gaming which is completely undiscovered by the Pakistani industry. Polygon’s Ben Kuchera put it bluntly in 2020:
“VR has been five minutes away from some kind of breakthrough for about eight years.”
VR is still a niche category when compared to the rest of the gaming industry, with sales and manufacturing reflecting this: The global shipments for VR and AR equipment fell by 12 percent in 2022. And despite its buzzy status, it continues to give many consumers pause.
“Right now we’re sort of in this trough of disillusionment about VR,” Kevin Mack, a VR game developer, told Built In in 2020. “There was a lot of hype around it in 2015 and 2016, and then the whole world sort of got butt-hurt that their first-generation VR headset didn’t instantly morph into the Holodeck.”
Although VR has hit a few bumps along the way, tech and gaming companies are busy trying to advance the industry, investing considerable resources to develop VR hardware and games. Companies like Meta, Valve, PlayStation, and Samsung have all ventured into the VR industry over the last several years. Apple is even rumored to be developing a VR/AR system, although there have been delays and issues. This trend of investment is likely to continue with the VR game industry projected to grow at 30.5 percent by 2028.
There are promising developments on the horizon for VR. But first, a few challenges need to be addressed. Namely, the bulky headsets and high prices.
P@SHA and its member firms supported and participated in the Game Developers Conference 2023 held in California with the support of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), the Ministry of IT and Telecom (MoITT), the USAID and Pakistani Consulate in Los Angeles; and, Pakistan Pavilion attracted who’s who of the global gaming fraternity due to the excellent presentation of the game development potential we have in Pakistan and it is our aim to make Pakistan a serious contender in the US$315 billion global gaming industry, Khan added.
Khan reiterated his stance that the federal government, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) need to adapt their practices and regulations to international best practices vis-a-vis foreign exchange management and allow IT & ITeS industry to freely manage their hard-earned foreign exchange to fund their businesses; reinvest into their entities; invest into marketing, sales & networking and, at the same time, contribute in strengthening Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves (FER).
Khan elaborated that ease of doing business for IT and ITeS industry can only be ensured if they are allowed to freely manage their finances and remittances through banking channels; as IT professionals are a pool of dynamic entrepreneurs, young professionals in various verticals and aligned with international best practices.
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