What are the 10 Biggest Video Game Companies in the World in 2018? Read on to find out.
Video games can be fun. They can be addictive. They can also be profitable for shareholders. Unlike Hollywood, video game makers don’t have to contend with paying stars exorbitant salaries. Programming talent is also a lot cheaper than top acting talent. For many social games, advertising costs can also be low due to the viral nature of friends inviting other friends to play.
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When done correctly, a new video game can launch a franchise that produces enjoyment for users and profit for investors for decades.Some games, such as Madden Football have had over 20 different iterations and have been around for decades. Others, like Grand Theft Auto, can be as big as any movie franchise that comes out from Hollywood. In terms of specific numbers, ‘Grand Theft Auto 5’ has brought in $6 billion in sales since it was released in 2013, versus Hollywood’s biggest single grossing film, ‘Gone With the Wind’, which when factoring inflation, has grosses only $3.4 billion in box office receipts. Some video games can cross over and launch movie themselves, such as Tomb Raider or Prince of Persia, and create additional licensing revenue for video game producers.
Demand for video games has been strong. Due to the fact that billions of people have smartphones or PCs and almost everyone enjoys entertainment now and then, the market for video games is large. The biggest pure gaming companies regularly ring up tens of millions of titles and billions of dollars in sales every year. The future seems promising for video game producers too. With more and more people buying smartphones, PCs, Laptops, and gaming consoles each day, demand for video games will likely continue to increase. With upcoming virtual reality and augmented reality technology, video game producers could potentially realize even more demand.
Needless to say, a large market and an addictive product can translate into major earnings power for the companies that make them. Given these conditions, let’s go over the 10 Biggest Video Game Companies in the World in 2018. As a note to our methodology, we use a flexible system due to the fact that some major companies, such as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and TENCENT HOLDING/ADR (OTCMKTS: TCEHY), may make games and other things. Others, like TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE, INC Common Stock (NASDAQ:TTWO), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA), and Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) are more pure video game based. Some data is private and requires estimates, and others are publicly available. Our list is not based on revenue alone, but it incorporates a number of different factors.
#10 Netmarble
Although not well known in the West, Netmarble, a Korean game publisher is big in Asia. The company is the number one online game publisher in Korea, and reported sales of $519.4 million for Q3, up 62% year-over-year. According to its press release, Netmarble is also one of the fastest growing mobile game companies in Asia. The company is known for hits such as Star Wars: Force Arena, which features many Star Wars characters and has been played by over 6.5 million people globally.
