15 Fastest Growing Video Game Companies

Published on May 31, 2021 at 8:07 am by Syed Jawad Haider in Lists, News

In this article we will take a look at the 15 fastest-growing video game companies.

The popularity of video games is thriving. The social restrictions induced by the Covid-19 pandemic increased the gaming trends worldwide as people were forced to stay at home. Consequently where other industries suffered, the already-booming gaming industry thrived. The annual revenue for global gaming industry is touching US$150 billion which is considerably more than the combined share of both the film and music industry over the world. It is estimated that there were 1.3 billion gamers across the world in 2015 and that number has roughly doubled in the last 5 years.

The boom in the gaming industry is helping game developing companies and console makers which are raking in billions in revenue, including Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), Sony Group Corporation (NYSE: SONY), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

Adam Ziaja / Shutterstock.com

In this article we will list the fastest-growing video game companies. We have used the gain in revenue for the financial year 2019-2020 to rank the fastest-growing video game companies.

15. Sega

One of the pioneers of the gaming industry and a house-hold name, the company was established almost 60 years ago. They are headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and their international branches for Europe and America are situated in London and Irvine, California, respectively. Just like Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), Sony Group Corporation (NYSE: SONY), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Sega is one of the best gaming companies in the world.

14. Konami Holdings Corporation (TYO: 9766.T)

Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. is another Japanese video game development and publishing company which is a subsidiary of Konami Holdings that was founded in 1969. They saw early success with the rise of arcade games and the first generation of home consoles in the 80s and 90s. Major modern titles released by Konami include Metal Gear series, the Silent Hill series and the Pro Evolution Soccer series.

13. Ubisoft Entertainment SA (EPA: UBI.PA)

Ubisoft Entertainment SA was established in 1986 and changed its name to Ubisoft in 2003. It is a French video game company with its headquarters in Paris and has several development studios across the world.

12. Net Marble

Netmarble Corp was founded in 2000 by Bang Jun-hyuk in South Korea. They specialize in mobile-game development and they are South Korea’s largest mobile-gaming company.

11. Nexon

Nexon Group was established in Seoul, South Korea, in 1994 and later in 2005 shifted its headquarter to Tokyo, Japan. They specialize in online games for personal computers and mobile phones and their catalogue includes well over 80 titles for both platforms.

10. Square Enix

Enix was started in 1975 as a game publishing company working with different studios and Square was founded in 1983 as a computer game software division of a construction company. Their merger in 2003 led to the formation of Square Enix which is primarily known for its role-playing video games (called RPGs in short) such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom of Hearts.

9. BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc. (OTC: NCBDF)

Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. is another Japanese multinational video game developer and publisher with its headquarter in Tokyo. Its American European international offices are situated in Santa Clara, California and Lyon, France respectively.

8. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO)

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) was founded in 1993 by Ryan Brant. It is a holding company that owns two game publishing studios: Rockstar Games and 2K. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) has released some of the most successful and critically acclaimed games of all time.

7. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA)

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) ranks 7th in the list of fastest-growing video game companies. The stock recently fell even after the company posted strong Q1 numbers, in which bookings jumped 18% to $1.49 billion. The company said that its FIFA 21 has more than 25 million players, while The Sims 4 has almost 36 million players. Apex Legends has close to 100 million players.

6. Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI)

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) ranks 6th in the list of fastest-growing video game companies. The stock recently received an Outperform rating from BMP Capital Markets. Just like Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), Sony Group Corporation (NYSE: SONY), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), ATVI is one of the best gaming companies in the world.

5. NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES)

NetEase ranks 5^th in the list of fastest-growing gaming companies. In the first quarter, the company’s revenue jumped 30% on a year-over-year basis. Here is what we wrote about NTES back in February:

“Dually-listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ, NTES is a mainland Chinese internet technology company providing services across a wide spectrum of content, community, communications, and commerce. Best known for its Chinese-language games, NTES is developer and operator of online PC and mobile games, advertising services, email services and e-commerce platforms in China. A dominant name in the online gaming industry, the company counts Tencent as the only formidable competitor.

A Strong Pipeline

With domestic iconic franchises such as Fantasy Westworld Journey (FWJ), WWJ, Onmyoji, and Knives Out introduced in Japan in the recent year, NTES is now foraying into Europe. The company’s strong portfolio of existing products and pipeline include Diablo Immortal, Harry Potter, and Revelation Mobile. These products should further boost the company’s traction. With a well-planned, partial or full exit from some of its businesses, NTES has successfully raised cash for better deployment over the past few years. Well-run franchises and continuous development of flagship titles have helped NTES clock strong compounding revenue growth of over 30% since 2008 in the highly competitive industry. Alibaba’s investment in NTES’ Cloud Music has created a buzz on the street about the business unit’s value being around $7 billion.

The company’s founder Ding Lei aka William Ding, a Chinese billionaire, has been instrumental in developing computer networks in mainland China. His position as the CEO at NTES for the past 23 years has demonstrated stable and effective leadership of the company. Ding has always advocated rewarding shareholders with special dividends and share buyback programs.

With all these strong fundamentals in place, NTES trading around 22x 2021 P/E multiple seems to be undervalued in comparison to the global gaming industry players valued at 23-30x as well as the broader indexes.”

Pixabay/Public Domain

4. Xbox Game Studios

Owned by Microsoft, Xbox gaming studio makes games for Xbox platforms, Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms.

3. Nintendo Co., Ltd. (OTC: NTDOY)

Japan-based Nintendo Co., Ltd. was founded in 1889 and today ranks amongst the top gaming companies in the world. Some of the famous titles made by the company include Mario, Legend of Zelda, Pokémon Go and Minecraft.

gaming, console, anime, mario, wii, entertaiment

Stefano Tinti / Shutterstock.com

2. Tencent Holdings Limited (OTC: TCEHY)

Tencent is a Chinese gaming and internet company founded in 1998.

1. Sony Group Corporation (NYSE: SONY)

Sony tops the list of faster growing gaming companies in the world. The company recently said it has sold over 7.8 million units of PlayStation 5, while its PlayStation Plus subscriber count stands at 47.6 million, a 14.7 percent increase year on year.