We live in the era of the subscription service. From television networks to food delivery and from clothing to cars, everything can be paid for with a subscription these days. In the games industry, there are more paid-for subscriptions than you can shake a controller at, and research has revealed that the revenue clawed in by these services is set to skyrocket over the next four years.
In a report published by Omdia, it has been forecasted that the market revenue secured by gaming subscriptions – and the cloud gaming market – will exceed $22 billion by 2027. At the moment, it’s floating around the $16 billion mark. This report breaks down the market into eight sub-categories, including in-game subscriptions, cloud gaming libraries, and ‘platform access’ subscriptions.
That’s a Lot of Money
It’s no wonder that every operator in the business seems to be looking to some kind of subscription-based model to bolster its finances in this day and age. From PS Plus to Xbox Game Pass and from GeForce Now to something like Loot Crate, there are hundreds of potential subscription services that a gamer can soak up.
In a statement, the Senior Principal Analyst at Omdia, George Jijiashvili, spoke about the concept of the subscription model in gaming:
Subscriptions have evolved into a cornerstone strategy for leading game companies, which increasingly emphasize expanded capabilities, exclusive content, and cross-platform accessibility. However, subscriptions’ role as the primary business model remains unproven. While offering a cost-effective and user-friendly experience, sustaining blockbuster game development within this model raises difficult financial questions. This further underscores our belief that, while subscriptions will continue to grow, they will not become the dominant business model for games but rather complement a diverse range of monetization approaches.
In the report, it was stated that between Xbox and PlayStation, 92 million subscribers are paying for ‘games library services’. It was forecasted that, by 2027, cloud gaming providers will be generating up to $6.4 billion, and that in-game subscriptions contribute a whopping 30% to the overall pot.
As cloud gaming becomes much more accessible over time and the infrastructure driving these services becomes more reliable and resilient, we’re going to see a revolution of sorts, I believe. For each new console that hits the market, we’re seeing digital-only alternatives dropping, and on an incremental path, the games being offered by subscription-based services are only getting better and more competitive.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Diablo IV can be played for free this weekend – digitally
