Serious Games Market Report 2025

The serious games market size has grown rapidly in recent years. It will grow from $11.44 billion in 2024 to $13.62 billion in 2025 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.1%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to educational initiatives, healthcare training, corporate training and skill development, military and defense applications, employee engagement and productivity.

The serious games market size is expected to see exponential growth in the next few years. It will grow to $32.33 billion in 2029 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.1%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to personalized learning solutions, healthcare patient care, diversity and inclusion training, global expansion of e-learning, rise of gamified assessments. Major trends in the forecast period include integration with artificial intelligence (AI), advancements in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), increased access to technology, gamification in corporate training, cross-platform accessibility.

The increasing adoption of virtual reality in training and development activities is projected to significantly boost the growth of the serious games market. Virtual reality creates an artificial environment through software, allowing users to immerse themselves in a simulated world that feels real. This technology provides a safe learning environment where individuals can practice new skills, make mistakes, learn from them, and enhance their professional capabilities. For instance, in February 2022, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a US-based government agency, indicated that total spending on augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) products was expected to exceed $215 billion in 2021, with the global healthcare AR and VR market projected to reach $5.1 billion by 2025. Consequently, the integration of virtual reality into training and development initiatives is anticipated to propel the growth of the serious games market.

The growth of the serious games market is anticipated to be fueled by the increasing demand in the aerospace industry. The aerospace industry encompasses the collaborative efforts, development, production, and maintenance of aircraft and spacecraft. Serious games offer a realistic and immersive training environment, enabling aerospace professionals to simulate scenarios closely resembling real-world situations. This enhances the learning experience, provides hands-on training, facilitates safety training, reduces training time, supports cross-functional training, and creates customized training scenarios tailored to specific skills, procedures, or challenges relevant to their roles. For example, in August 2023, Cadrex reported that the aerospace industry revenue was $741 billion in 2022, marking a 3% increase from 2021. Hence, the growing demand in the aerospace sector is a key driver for the serious games market.

The significant trend in the serious games market is the emergence of advanced technological infrastructure. Leading players in this sector are introducing innovations to games by incorporating technologies such as cloud computing, virtual reality, and the metaverse. The metaverse creates a virtual world where users can interact within a computer-generated environment, offering real-time experiences and enhancing game interactivity. A notable example is Amazon's AWS Cloud Quest, a role-playing game introduced in March 2022. This online game simplifies users' learning of cloud computing techniques, allowing cloud practitioners to design avatars and navigate a virtual city to solve cloud-related technological problems, earning character styles, companions, and virtual goods.

The prominent companies in the serious games market are forging partnerships to enhance their market positions and develop innovative products. Collaborations in this sector aim to foster innovation, leverage complementary expertise, and expedite the advancement of advanced therapies. A notable example is the April 2023 partnership between HAVELSAN A.Ş., a Turkey-based defense and information technology company, and Epic Games, Inc., a US-based video game and software development company. This collaboration utilizes Epic Games' Unreal Engine capabilities, resulting in the creation of 'malazgirt,' a first-person shooter game developed for the malazgirt Serious Game Infrastructure Project, emphasizing HAVELSAN's focus on serious games for the defense sector.

In April 2023, Savvy Games Group, a video game industry company based in Saudi Arabia, acquired Scopely, Inc., for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition was aimed at leveraging Savvy's strategic resources to enhance Scopely's growth, allowing the company to deepen its franchises, expand its player base, and explore cross-platform opportunities in PC and console gaming. This initiative is intended to foster innovation and bolster Savvy's position in the global gaming market. Scopely, Inc., a US-based interactive entertainment company, specializes in mobile-first video game development and offers serious games.

Major companies operating in the serious games market include IBM Corporation, Cisco Systems Inc., Grendel Games, Tygron BV, MPS Interactive Systems Ltd., Applied Research Associates Inc., Hourblast Games, Cole Engineering Services Inc., Diginext, Alelo TLT LLC, Tata Interactive Systems, Promotion Software GmbH, In-Depth Engineering Corporation, iCivics Inc., Filament Games LLC, Can Studios Ltd., BreakAway Games Ltd., Chaos Theory Games, Learning Nexus Ltd., Akili Interactive Labs, Designing Digitally Inc., Triseum LLC, DFUSION Inc., Revelian Pty Ltd., Open Mind Innovation, Deus Marmota, L.I.B. Businessgames BV, CCS Digital Education Ltd., Vcom3D Inc.

Asia-Pacific was the largest region in the serious games market in 2024. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the serious games market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa. The countries covered in the serious games market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Spain.

Serious games are designed to facilitate learning and behavior change, incorporating specific skills, knowledge, and attitudes. They blend learning techniques, game mechanics, and structured knowledge to create captivating, engrossing, and entertaining experiences.

The primary platforms for serious games encompass smartphones, consoles, PCs, and other platforms. The smartphone segment involves the sales of serious games specifically designed for smartphones, which are mobile devices incorporating built-in computers, operating systems, web browsing, and the capacity to run software programs. Serious games find applications in simulation and training, research and planning, advertising and marketing, human resources, and other domains. End users of serious games span education, healthcare, aerospace and defense, government, retail, media and entertainment, and various other verticals.

The serious games market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides serious games market statistics, including serious games industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with a serious games market share, detailed serious games market segments, market trends and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the serious games industry. The serious games market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenario of the industry.

The serious games market consists of revenues earned by entities by providing cognitive training and physical rehabilitation. Values in this market are ‘factory gate’ values, that is, the value of goods sold by the manufacturers or creators of the goods, whether to other entities (including downstream manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers) or directly to end customers. The value of goods in this market includes related services sold by the creators of the goods.

The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from the sale of goods and/or services within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of the currency (in USD, unless otherwise specified).

The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values that are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales along the supply chain, either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.

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