Gaming Insider’s Report: The Transformation of Italy’s Gaming Scene

Perhaps today’s gaming would not have been the same without the pandemic, without that period that by now seems to have been erased from our minds and that instead had locked us indoors, cutting the bridges of relationships, isolating us. In fact, it was here that the first great leap of the online gaming sector took place, a surge that has never abated and indeed continues to gather new users.

“According to research conducted by the Italian Esports Observatory together with Soprism in Italy, – explains Lamberto Rinaldi from the editorial staff of Gaming Insider -, Italian gamers now number over 5 million. A constantly increasing number, which feeds trends and fashions of a real industry”. 

“The first is the predilection for streaming and video content: the gaming world is in fact very strongly linked to platforms such as Twitch or You Tube, where expert gamers offer advice, tips, reviews or simply share their gaming sessions.  The emergence of free games represents other significant shift in market trends, effectively dismantling economic constraints and democratizing access to online gaming. This development is making notable inroads into Italy’s public gaming sphere as well, with online casinos enticing new users through offers like free spins. This strategy is gaining traction as it not only allows users to evaluate platforms but also to explore new game titles in the gambling domain”, adds Rinaldi of Gaming Insider.

But online gaming is above all about multiplayer games such as Fortnite, League of Legends, Overwatch and Call of Duty, titles that are very popular in Italy, especially among the younger generation, or e-sports tournaments and competitions, which are now also increasingly found in the mobile variant. Smartphone games are now organised in competitions such as Free Fire, Clash Royale, PUBG Mobile, contributing to the growth in popularity of the eSports sector.

A market segment, this one, that must be read under the lens of passion but also of new professional skills: more and more young Italians are finding work as professional gamers or as expert developers, technicians, computer scientists. Because the gaming sector is not just entertainment and leisure, it is an important item for the national economy, “just think that in 2022 alone the Italian videogame sector generated a turnover of over 2 billion and 240 million euros, marking a growth of 3 percentage points compared to 2021. Numbers that confirm one theory: gaming is not just a game,’ Rinaldi concludes.