Niko Partners increases 2025 MENA and Asia games market forecasts by 1.2%

The Asia and MENA game markets are on track to generate $88.97 billion in games revenue for 2025, better than was previously forecast.

That’s according to research from Niko Partners, which reports that this is a 2.7% increase year-on-year, and 1.21% higher than the previously forecast $87.9 billion.

The company says that it has revised its forecast for MENA and Asia on the back of more impressive momentum on PC and mobile, which it credits with the rise of “evergreen IP”. Cross-platform AAA experiences also played a role.

Niko Partners also says that the number of people paying for games across both Asia and MENA has risen, while “improved regulatory and policy conditions” make for a more promising outlook for the games industry in these countries.

There have also been companies engaging underserved demographics, such as women, while console is also set to boost the market on the back of Nintendo Switch 2 and Grand Theft Auto 6 in 2026.

For 2024, the Asian and MENA markets generated $86.6 billion in games revenue, while by 2029, the company predicts that they’ll be making a combined $99.6 billion.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, China is the dominant force in the Asia and MENA market, comprising 57.5% of total revenue. East Asia – Korea and Japan – takes second place with a 32.7% slice of the pie.

While India is forecast to make up just 1.2% of total games spending for the region, Niko has given it by far the most optimistic growth outlook of any other country. Between 2024 and 2029, the company believes that India will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.9%, more than double the next most significant grower in the MENA-3 (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE).

Meanwhile, Niko believes that 1.7 billion people in the Asia and MENA markets are playing games in 2025, in line with the figures from 2024, but by 2029, this figure will have jumped 17% to 2 billion.

Again, the biggest market share goes to China, which is apparently set to be behind 43.1% of the region’s audience, while India – despite comprising a very small share of the sector’s revenue, takes second place when it comes to audience size, with over 500 million gamers predicted for 2025 – 29.6% of the sector total.

India once again has the most impressive outlook when it comes to the country’s audience; Niko forecasts an 8.1% CAGR increase between 2024 and 2029 for the number of gamers in the country. By 2029, over 700 million people will be playing games in India.