Latin America is one of the fastest growing markets in the world, with a population of more than 650 million people, almost as many as all of Europe combined (740 million). According to Newzoo’s predictions, eSports is on the rise. Its global audience will exceed 500 million by 2023. Nearly 10% of that audience is in Latin America, and the younger generations are as interested in eSports as they are in traditional sports. So, it won’t be long before we see this figure grow substantially. In 2021, the global eSports market was estimated at just over $1 billion. That year, Mexico and Brazil, the leading Latin American countries in eSports revenues, accounted for a combined share of less than three percent of global revenues. However, both markets were forecast to grow steadily in the following years, with revenues exceeding US$20 million by 2027.
The growth of digital gaming in Latin America has been driven by a combination of factors, such as the rise of mobile gaming, the popularity of live streaming platforms and the growth of e-sports. For companies offering cloud gaming services there is a huge opportunity to tap into the Latin American market.
One of the causes that will drive the growth of eSports in Latin America has to do with the fact that strong teams have emerged in the region over the past five years. When people can cheer for a team that wins at the international level, news spreads quickly and regional fan bases grow faster. This, in turn, attracts sponsors and investors, which strengthens teams and creates an entire ecosystem.
Latin American fans are just as passionate about eSports as they are about traditional sports like soccer. And as a result, they don’t let important events go by without watching them, and they don’t let news about those events go by without reading them. But they will almost always seek out information in their own language.
As we can see, Latin America is a massive market for eSports, but some technological realities are holding it back, like the limited high speed internet access. Although the situation is improving, many parts of Latin America still do not have access to reliable, high-speed broadband Internet. According to recent statistics, only 72% of households in the region have Internet access, well below the global average of 82%. This lack of infrastructure limits the ability of gamers to download and play games that require high-speed Internet.
Another problem faced by gamers in Latin America is data latency. This refers to the delay between the time an action is performed and the time it is registered by the server. For example, if a player in Colombia presses a button to fire a weapon at an enemy target, there may be a slight delay before the server registers the action and the weapon is fired. This can be a major problem in fast-paced games, where split-second decisions often must be made.
A final technological reality holding back the digital gaming market in Latin America is the lack of cloud computing infrastructure. This refers to the network of servers and data centers that power cloud-based services such as gaming, streaming and storage. Although many companies are investing in this area, the infrastructure is still not as developed as in other regions of the world. This lack of infrastructure limits the ability of companies to offer cloud gaming services in Latin America.
