The gaming industry today is the largest entertainment sector globally. For comparison, the video gaming industry in 2019 was worth US$ 152.1 billion, while the box office ($42.2 billion) and music industry ($21.5 billion) combined couldn't reach the total. With 2.7 billion gamers around the globe, this industry is projected to go well beyond US$ 200 billion within next five years.
A large portion of the gaming industry revenue comes from the online multiplayer games. In recent years, with the advent of fast internet, cheap hardwares and mobile phone gaming, the online gaming industry has seen an unimaginable growth. Bangladesh is not far behind in terms of consumption in this industry. According to a report by Newzoo, a game-market analysis company, the size of the local gaming market was US$ 62.2 million. Buoyed by better internet connections over the years and availability of better hardwares, the number of gamers is rapidly on the rise.
One defining characteristic of these games is- they are all free-to-play initially. PC games such as Call of Duty multiplayer, even the PUBG main version which requires the players to buy the game first, haven't gained much popularity among the local gamers. This actually reflects the situation of Bangladesh's gaming scenario, where gamers had to illegally obtain most of the single-player games. When the game could verify authentication over the internet-- like in most of the multiplayer games-- the gamers were unable to play it. However, it is not always the matter of will for legal means; complications, unavailability and affordability plays a role here in most cases. Nevertheless, the number of legal buyers has increased off late, due to ease in online payment systems and availability of digital distribution services like Steam and Epic.
With the rise of online gaming in the country, the obvious question of time-management and efficiency comes forward. A 2020 report by Limelight network indicates that gamers, on average, spend six hours and 20 minutes per week, playing games. They also spend a lot of time watching their favourite games played live or recorded in forms of esports. Newzoo reported that the top 25 online games globally account for 1,265.8 million hours of gameplay watched. The same report from Limelight indicates disruption in daily activity if the gamers due to gaming. This productivity concern is present in Bangladesh too. Specially the reality here means, most of the gamers are either part-time or playing it as a hobby. There is always the chance of losing productivity for the core participant demography i.e. the youth, while focusing on gaming too much.
However, professional gaming has huge potential in Bangladesh. Various gaming groups and individuals from the country went on to win accolades on the international stage and there is a vibrant local gaming competition scene. With proper facilities, such as- sponsorships and coaching, the gamers could achieve more. There is also a growing streaming industry with games like PUBG and Valorant. Again, multiplayer online games also play a big role in team-building exercises. Even the US army, during the pandemic, has used online video games as a team-building exercise.
The local game developing industry too is progressing with the release of its first online tactical first person shooter game 'Zero Hour' this year. With a huge global potential and young developers stepping into the arena, the game development sector lacks fundamental support from the stakeholders. ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar recognised the lack of support, lack of game-development skill and piracy in the local market as the main challenges for this industry.
The online gaming industry, which was slowly penetrating into the country, got a push by the pandemic. Rather than regretting negative sides of gaming, the better way is to adapt to this reality by incentivising the local industry and building a framework for legal game procurements to ensure sustainable growth in the local and global market.
The writer is a third year BSS student at the Department of Economics, University of Dhaka. He can be reached at sheikhtausif897@gmail.com