Each of the Southeast Asian nations have some interesting insights for western mobile gaming developers. While one market has more female mobile gamers, another has a history in online gaming or some even have edge over other ASEAN markets in English proficiency. According to Mordor Intelligence, the current market value of South-East Asia’s mobile gaming industry is USD 14.80 Billion, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 0.19% between 2024 and 2029. In 2020, an average Indonesian player increased the number of online games played each month by 26% compared to the 2019 average. The governments have also realised this trend and included esports as a medal event in the Southeast Asian Games since 2019.

A google survey revealed that at least one in three smartphone owners in Southeast Asian markets played mobile games once in last seven days. Over 82% of Southeast Asia’s urban online population are gamers and mobile gaming leads by a significant margin over PC and console. Southeast Asia alone has contributed a significant share to the growth of global mobile games that was valued at $49 B in 2019 making up to 60% of the overall revenue of the gaming market.

In 2019, the gaming sector generated $ 4.3 B with a y-o-y growth of 13.9%. The same year mobile gaming was valued at $ 3 B and PC gaming only a third of it and growing at less than half of mobile gaming growth rate.

Why should boys have all the fun?

Despite a highly patriarchal market, the Southeast Asian gaming industry has made significant strides in closing the gender gap. While 77% of female online gamers are mobile gamers compared to 83% of male gamers, the gender disparity in mobile gaming uptake is significantly lower than that of console (64:75) and PC (50:63)

In fact, gaming is not just a Gen Z phenomenon but also a popular pastime among older adults. In Southeast Asia, 14% of female and 12% of male Gen Z gamers participate, while 25% of women and over 14% of men aged 45-54 are also avid gamers. This trend is particularly evident in Vietnam, where 59% of women and 54% of men are gamers. Given the country’s population of 48.99 million females and 48.6 million males in 2020, this slight gender difference is noteworthy. These high engagement rates have contributed to Vietnam’s more robust mobile gaming market compared to the Philippines

Monetize games yet retain players

To encourage in-app purchases, paid downloads and in-app advertising, publishers have resorted to indirect or subsidy-based monetization strategies to make up for direct revenue. With high disposable income and a history of in-game purchasing culture, Thailand and Malaysia can lead as positive examples for the mobile gaming world. Advertising revenue also seems to be a convenient strategy for non-paying gamers.

Thailand is said to be the largest market in terms of gaming revenues in Southeast Asia. Ever since 2000s South Korean, Malaysians and Thai people dominated the traditional online PC game markets and they are much more used to paying for online games.

Indonesia is also emerging to be key mobile gaming market. Nearly 50% of paying gamers come from Indonesia and Thailand. Singapore which is said to be mature market for internet products, will reach a saturation point while the other emerging Southeast Asian markets will overtake the growth. The country reports lowest percentage of paying mobile gamers however they spend more than others per player.

Social gaming is also picking up pace as a segment. With COVID-19 related regulations of social distancing, team games have picked up pace. Mobile messaging apps are also expanding their ability to serve as gateways to new kind of audience for games and online networking services. While still in earlier stage of product lifecycle, one the companies hit the critical level of users to capitalize on network effects, the Southeast Asian market have an opportunity for a massive user base for team gaming platforms.

Anglicized or localised?

In 2019, when the first world-class esports tournament was held in Philippines a game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang led the show. This tournament was ensured that it was brought to players in 14 languages. Their peak viewership touched as high as 760,000. What the game’s Chinese publisher also did was collaborate with Southeast Asian countries to create new characters from their respective histories or folklore like Lapu Lapu from Philippines, Minsitthar from Myanmar, Kadita from Indonesia and Badang from Malaysia.

Western mobile publishers cannot cash-in on the nascency of the Southeast Asian gaming market, a broad young literate middle class population with high disposable income, less regulation and wellestablished western distribution channels such as Google Play and iTunes App Store, but introduce relatable gaming experience.

Mobile interest being more accessible than ever before and affordable high-spec devices and more non-SEA publishers trying to enter makes Southeast Asia one of the fastest-growing markets. Some of the top-grossing games in Southeast Asia are from west. Philippines has some of the most western titles making up almost 65% of the country’s top games. Still to catch up in other markets western game publishers still have an edge over others to rank within Top 20 rankings.

Even as the region most holds low English Proficiency Index (EPI) and English penetration is less than 1% of the market, Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia can be prospective markets for western gamers to enter with their products. Even as Thailand is one of the most promising markets with a high gaming population localisation might get complex but one needs to put money where there is a promising return. On the flipside, Thai gamers might not altogether shy away from anglicised games if they are as good and gaming more about visual cues than about language itself.

Southeast Asia’s vast and densely populated geography, coupled with a favorable young demographic, a relatively strong economy, and growing disposable incomes, creates a fertile ground for the gaming industry. The region’s increasing investments in IT infrastructure, including internet and mobile connectivity, further enhance its potential. Despite language barriers, Southeast Asia is well-positioned to experience significant growth in the gaming sector.