IHS estimates that gaming through connected TVs will hit $1.6 billion in 2016 via 800 million smart TVs, up from $88 million this year where there are only about 100 million such devices. The analyst firm sees growing adoption of internet-enabled TVs (particularly from Samsung and LG) and the proliferation of free-to-play games will result in huge sales growth over the next few years.
“The sheer volume of addressable connected devices means this sector will be hard to ignore for content owners,” said Piers Harding-Rolls, head of games research at IHS. “There remain hurdles to overcome, of course, not least of which is user monetization. However, IHS expects an acceleration in spending during the next five years as these hurdles are dismantled by leading industry players.”
“Based on the quick evolution of previous digital games markets and the time it takes to develop the necessary relationships to get content published across devices, gaining first-mover advantage is likely to be key to the connected TV games sector,” Harding-Rolls added.
