Esports News: Esports Revenue Hit $1 Billion in 2019, Forecast to Reach $4 Billion in 2022

Esports News: Esports Revenue Hit $1 Billion in 2019, Forecast to Reach $4 Billion in 2022

video games lawyer

Esports News: Esports Revenue Hit $1 Billion in 2019, Forecast to Reach $4 Billion in 2022

1024 683 David Hoppe

The esports industry totaled $1 billion in 2019 and could reach $4 billion in 2022 according to a new forecast from Quantum Tech, a financial advising group run by M&A experts Jim Perkins and Alina Soltys, and which specializes in the video games industry.

Quantum Tech’s forecast views 2022 esports revenue more bullishly than other firms: Goldman Sachs predicts that the industry will reach $2.96 billion in revenue, whereas market analytics company Newzoo predicts the market will hit $1.79 billion.

In February last year, Newzoo predicted that 2019 esports revenue would hit $1.1 billion. The prediction was extremely close: the industry hit $1 billion in revenue for the first time.

Quantum Tech’s report shows that there were 33 esports M&A deals in 2019. Esports teams saw the greatest interest, with team acquisitions accounted for 40% of the deals. In total, esports deals accounted for $457 million, 20% of total gaming M&A.

Esports investment was lower in 2019 than in 2018, but Quantum Tech credited 2018’s high investment number to “three mega-deals.” Epic alone was able to bring in $1.25 billion in a massive 2018 deal.

However, Quantum Tech’s founders voiced words of caution for those expecting the esports industry to generate meaningful profits in the short term. In response to the assertion that Riot Games has yet to make any money in esports with League of Legends, Solty’s said esports is a “growth industry.”

“The question would be, for Riot, if they’re not making money, are they planning on exiting the esports space? I doubt it,” Perkins said. “In the long run, there’s an investment that could turn into massive amounts of profit, like we see in other companies.”

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David Hoppe

All stories by: David Hoppe

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