According to market research group Gfk, South Africa’s gaming market is now generating R1.72 billion rand.

This figure includes hardware, peripherals and physical game sales, but does not count digital game sales, as these are notoriously difficult to quantify.

In 2011, almost 3.9 million physical games were sold generating over R900 million in revenue. This figure surpasses 2011’s local movie ticket sales, pegged at R788 million.

These figures are impressive, but South Africa still has a way to go when compared to the large US video game market.

In the United States, gaming generated US$17.02 billion (±R130 billion) last year according to the NPD Group. Movie sales in the US generated US$9.42 billion (±R72 billion) according to The-Numbers.com.

Carolyn Holgate, MWEB GM, offered an explanation for the growth in gaming as a form of recreational entertainment, saying that compared to movies, gaming offers an in-depth and immersive experience.

“The difference with gaming is that instead of simply watching the story unfold, you participate in the game, heightening the experience through your engagement with the game,” said Holgate.

The power of online gaming

Holgate believes it’s the online element of gaming which is really driving the market, as gamers are able to pit themselves against human opponents in the pursuit of improving their skill, levelling up their game characters, and moving up the leader boards. This can result in hundreds of hours of gameplay, as opposed to the average movie that only lasts 90 minutes.

In South Africa, the popularity of online gaming continues to grow. MWEB recently sponsored a team which represented South Africa in the Clanbase NationsCup 2012 for Battlefield 3, where they competed online against Australia, Belgium, Finland, Portugal and Russia.

“The growth of online gaming has led to the formation of groups of gamers called multi-gaming organisations (MGOs) which have several teams across different games in the MGO who compete to be the best in their respective games,” said Holgate.

Currently, MWEB has 157 game servers deployed for 59 game titles, and the average number of active gamers on the MWEB network for the last three months has increased by 8%.

As console sales continue to increase, and more people start using uncapped ADSL at home on faster line speeds, Holgate expects the South African online gaming industry to continue growing.