New Zealand

New Zealand gaming revenue surged past $270 million last year. With PC being a dominant platform for developers, followed by console and mobile, the sector is thriving. Revenue has risen by 7% year-over-year, with 44% of studios deriving a huge amount of income from the US.  10% of the income generated by studios in the country is sourced internally too. This shows that the number of gamers in the country is growing, indicating that it could be an emerging gaming market.

The NZ casino sector is also particularly strong, with several sites continually expanding their offerings. If you look at the best NZ online casino reviews for 2024, you’ll notice that the top options have between 300 and 500 games each. These span across popular games such as blackjack, roulette, and poker, meaning that gamblers in New Zealand have never had so much choice available.

Nigeria

Africa’s total number of active gamers has doubled in the last five years. The African gaming sector is set to generate $1 billion this year, a first for the country. A lot of this growth is being driven by Nigeria specifically. The country’s younger population as well as access to strong internet connections has helped to spur growth too.

One thing that could be holding the gaming sector back however would be card penetration. Total card penetration in Africa only stands at 2.7%, and the top gaming platforms, including Google Play and Apple, rely heavily on card payments. If this issue could be solved, which it currently is, then this could lead to significant improvements in the number of gamers. When you take into account the fact that this is already on the rise, it’s easy to see how this could compound and lead to Nigeria being one of the top markets for gaming in a very short space of time.

The UK

Another thriving market would be the UK. The video gaming market in the UK nearly hit £8 billion last year, a 4.4% increase from the year before. Studies have also found time and time again that the casino sector in particular is booming, but there has also been a sharp rise in new development studios as well. This has resulted in new games being released as well as several new online titles. When you look at the UK’s current standing in comparison to other countries, it’s entirely possible that it could jump ahead. This is especially the case when you look at the fact that the UK is now the top entertainment market in Europe when you consider streaming and other avenues of media.

So, here are the top emerging gaming markets across the world. It’s going to be surprising to see which ones end up claiming the top spot in 2025, with the race for gaming domination very much underway.