Episode 32: Gaming
Episode description
The video game sector is now the biggest entertainment industry in the world. There are an estimated two and a half billion players worldwide. And it’s not just the social impact - there’s a lot of money to be made too. In fact, the global gaming market is worth 10 times as much as the film or music industry.
At the end of last year, one of the world’s most popular games, Fortnite, brought in revenues of $1.8 billion while the world of eSports generated over $1.1 billion globally – a figure that’s expected to rise by at least 50% next year.
First on this episode, we have Richard Garriott – a man who has been described as one of the Founding Fathers of Role-Playing Games [01:12].
We also speak to Leo Lin, head of China for Riot Games, about the hugely successful League of Legends and its rise through eSports. He explains why the game has been so successful in China and how he sees the gaming technology as a whole developing worldwide.
Finally we talk to Tina Amini, the editor-in-chief at IGN, about whether she thinks Microsoft's Xbox Series X or Sony's PlayStation 5 will win the next-generation console wars. Amini explains how Microsoft and Sony have been approaching their new generation of gaming consoles and what we can expect from these companies in the future.