Having generated over $20 billion in revenues in 2020 and forecasted to grow by at least 30% by 2025, online gaming accounts for the biggest share of the global digital media market revenues, boosted by both an ever-increasing demand for games and the notorious pandemic forcing millions of fans of outdoor fun – as well as lovers of online casinos like Maneki Kasyno – look for digital avenues of entertainment.
Surprisingly enough, Polish gaming is one of the strongest in Europe. While COVID-19 was wreaking havoc all over the world, closing millions of brick-and-mortar businesses, Polish game developers were pumping out games – and quality ones – like there’s no tomorrow. With about 500 new releases annually and just as many development studios, the Polish game production employs over 10,000 people and spearheads the European game dev field.
Having postponed press conferences and game releases and switched to remote working models, Polish game developers show impressive numbers. In 2017, online games generated $91 million in revenues; in 2020, the revenues grew to $127 million; in 2025, the numbers are expected to reach $170 million.
But how come Polish gaming is so robust and resilient? To understand it, we may have to dig deeper into the history of game development as well as popular gambling myths in Poland. Before that, though, let’s give some credit to Anna Rosak, the co-author of this piece and a brilliant gambling & gaming writer from KasynoHEX.
CD Projekt Red to Lead the Scene Since 2007
It won’t take long to spot the three undisputed leaders in the Polish game dev market – PlayWay, Ten Square Games, and CD Projekt Red – but that’s the latter that unambiguously leads the pack and that paved the way for all other companies by developing its renowned The Witcher Series (three main series, two expansion packs, and a spin-off) and the most recent Cyberpunk 2077.
Speaking of the latter, the red-hot title was released on 10 December 2020 to become the fastest-selling PC game ever with 13.7 million copies being sold by the end of 2020, generating over $550 in revenues, which is three times more than The Witcher 3’s launch gathered in its first year.
At the time of writing, the top-5 Polish companies are valued as follows:
- CD Projekt Red – €8.66 billion.
- Ten Square Games – €887 million.
- PlayWay – €736 million.
- 11 Bit Studios – €268 million.
- Creepy Jar – €175 million.
The Market Matures and Diversifies
Just like any other young market, the Polish gaming market matured along with the players, changing and diversifying preferences. Over 16 million Polish gamers play all types of games on mobile phones, computers, and consoles, being catered by about 500 development studios and 10 thousand people working in all kinds of studios:
- 10 large-scale companies employ over 200 people each.
- 400 small-scale companies employ less than 16 people each.
As for the young game dev talents, they have pretty good prospects. There are over two dozen programming courses in Poland along with annual meetings like Central & Eastern European Game Awards, DD Awards, and Poznan Game Arena Expo and Game Industry Conference.
eSports
Whether it’s just watching eSports on Twitch or doing it professionally, eSports is popular among Poles. The number of professional players and viewers totaled 1.4 million in 2019 and is growing fast, making eSports a decent alternative to classic sports. Wages-wise, the highest-paid professional eSports player, Nisha (Michał Jankowski, DOTA 2), has made close to $1 million in his career, followed by Neo (Filip Kubski, Counter-Strike) and TaZ (Wiktor Wojtas, Counter-Strike).
The Unique Place to Shine
It looks like Poland is a perfect springboard for young developers – and a good place to remain for that matter. On the one hand, the Land of Fields has a few all-star game dev companies with a strong undisputed leader; on the other hand, everyone willing to work in a small team will have this chance as well. To add to that, the export-oriented nature of the market makes it possible to cater to more developed countries and therefore earn more than it would be possible by serving the domestic market only.
Awash with game dev degree courses, game dev universities, and experienced programmers to share their knowledge, it’s no wonder Poland is the cradle of European gaming.
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