Video game market - France

The video game market involves several types of players, the main ones being development studios, publishers, distributors and hardware manufacturers. However, the boundaries between these different categories are porous, and a single company can play several roles. Market leaders are generally present at all stages of the value chain. Over the years, video games have established themselves as a major cultural sector. The market almost doubled in size between 2015 and 2023, and could grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1% between 2022 and 2030. Mobile games are booming, and now generate almost half of all sales in this sector. This dynamic is mirrored in France, where the video game industry is growing in importance year on year, driven by the undeniable success of consoles and the growing importance of mobile games. By 2023, over 70% of the French population will be playing video games, including over 90% of 10-17 year-olds and 87% of 18-34 year-olds. Video games therefore benefit from a fertile breeding ground for continued growth. It concerns all categories of the population, spreads across a variety of media familiar to consumers, and benefits from constant technological innovation (improved console performance, graphical rendering of games, virtual reality, cloud gaming, etc.). The diversity of business models in place in the sector, from single-unit sales to subscription services and the microtransactions present in free-to-play or freemium titles, also offers industry players a wide range of options for optimizing their revenues.