Tencent, the biggest games company in the world, brought in nearly $20 billion of global games revenue last year. This number makes them the number one company in terms of revenue and converts to around 15% of the entire market answering definitively how big is Tencent in gaming.
This number comes to us via Newzoo's latest report on the top 25 Public Companies by Game Revenues. Tencent's estimated revenue is $19.7 billion, with Sony in second at $14.2 and Microsoft following at $9.8. Overall, the top 25 brought in $134.9 billion in total - a staggering amount.
One should also note that these numbers "exclude hardware sales and other non-game sales." That and many of them are estimates, not exact as not all public companies itemize gaming separately. In cases where they do - like Tencent - we have a very sure idea where they are while some estimates were applied to companies like Sony, Google, and Apple.. The big 3's figures account for revenues from things like Xbox Live, Nintendo's eShop, and PlayStation Network for Sony.
Overall, the top 13 companies jump up in revenue year-over-year. Tencent went up 9%, Sony 41%, Microsoft 32%, and Nintendo 36%. Sony saw the most significant jump of the entire list with Nintendo and TakeTwo close behind.
However, we can expect these numbers to shift dramatically over the next couple of years. This is due to Apple and Google formally entering the gaming space. Apple with its Apple Arcade initiative, and Google with its Stadia streaming platform. Google and Apple are already effectively major players, ranking in the top 10 thanks to the amount of money made on their mobile phone stores from gaming.
A list of the Top 10 companies and their revenues for 2018:
- Tencent - $19.7 billion
- Sony - $14.2 billion
- Microsoft - $9.8 billion
- Apple - $9.5 billion
- Activision Blizzard - $6.9 billion
- Google - $6.9 billion
- NetEase - $6.2 billion
- Electronic Arts - $5.3 billion
- Nintendo - $4.3 billion
- Bandai Namco - $2.7 billion
Speaking of the console market, all we know is about to change. The other day, Sony revealed some specs for its new system. There are rumors of an upgraded Switch coming, and we're all but sure Microsoft will announce the next generation Xbox on top of its All-Digital Xbox One at E3 later this year.
