Beancounters at gaming analytics form Newzoo say that the rise is due to moves by the industry to get into content and communication.
Newzoo CEO Peter Warman said that different forms of digital entertainment were coming together.
As games become ubiquitous, they are turning into tools for connectivity, allowing players to chat with friends and meet new people. Fortnite publisher Epic Games Inc, in particular, sees gaming as a communication platform, Warman said.
Facebook is launching its own games through its Facebook, WhatsApp and Messenger apps, as is Tencent's WeChat in China.
On 5 June, Words With Friends developer Zynga Inc launched a new battle royale game exclusively on the new gaming platform of Snap Inc, home of messaging app Snapchat.
This year, the United States will overtake China for the largest gaming market by revenues - $36.9 billion versus $36.5 billion - due to growth in console games and the influence of Fortnite in America and the echo of a previous governmental freeze on new games in China.
Japanese companies are also making a comeback, in part because of nostalgia for retro games.
A revamp of Final Fantasy VII, originally released in 1997 by Japan’s Square Enix is expected to be released next year, for example.
Nintendo and Bandai are ranked 9th and 10th on Newzoo’s list of top public gaming companies by revenue.
“It’s taken a long time but they’re back”, Warman said, after some Japanese developers were slow to embrace mobile gaming and shift business models from paid games to free-to-play.
Mobile gaming on smartphones and tablets, versus PC and console games, remains the largest platform, producing $68.5 billion, or 45 per cent of the global market, the report said.
Newzoo surveyed more than 62,500 invite-only respondents from February to March across 30 markets, among other data sources. It is the firm’s 9th such annual report.
The report excludes revenue from esports or formalised professional video game competitions. Newzoo reported in February that global esports revenue would hit $1.1 billion this year.
