Chairman Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) Muhammad Zohaib Khan talked about the gaming industry’s revenue predicting an annual growth rate of 9.77% from 2023-2027 with a revenue of $200 million in 2023.
He mentioned that $200 million have been generated by only mobile games in 2022. According to the latest data online games have generated $21.34 million and download games were able to make $16.13 million.
CEO of Si Global, Noman Ahmed commented on this by adding that Pakistan is not benefiting from the highly profitable gaming industry and is not utilizing its true potential. Future investment in the industry is crucial and the government’s support for technological growth in Pakistan seems promising.
He further mentioned that Pakistan’s share of this $500 billion industry is only $50 million but this could be increased by establishing local gaming training centres for aspiring game developers. The local gaming and animation industry needs to be strengthened.
The P@SHA chairman while referring to the Statista Market Forecast and the International Trade Center (ITC) elaborated on Pakistan’s potential to become the next regional hub in game development as it has 64% of the young population, targeted skills development is needed. He emphasized the need for Government support, SBP and FBR need to adapt International best practices related to foreign exchange management allowing the IT and ITeS industry to freely manage their assets by funding their businesses and reinvesting.
He added that Pakistan currently has 8500 game developers and can easily add 3000 gaming developers to the Human resource pool every year attaining a 30% annual growth rate. The increased gaming industry’s foreign remittances could be invested in HR & skills development for aspiring game developers.
The collaboration of Industry and government would provide a solid foundation for the model, providing a ground to build world-class gaming, animation and deep tech providers. The investment in training centers for game developers is the need of the hour and a crucial step needed towards Pakistan’s economic growth and prosperity.
