Tablet video game revenue to top $13 billion by 2019, report predicts

The growth in sales of computer tablets is slowing down, but tablet video game revenue is exploding.

Worldwide revenue for tablet video games could reach $13.3 billion in 2019, according to a Juniper Research report -- more than three times the $3.6 billion expected this year.

Improvements in storage capacity and better graphical capabilities will lure more gamers to tablets, according to the report, released Tuesday. Other reasons include the portability of tablets and the vast number of people who play video games. According to the Entertainment Software Assn., 59% of Americans are players.

“Technology is going to advance to where tablet games are going to rival those of video game consoles,” said Patrick Scott Patterson, a video game industry expert.

Patterson said tech titans like Google, Apple and Amazon, which this week paid $970 million to acquire video game streaming website Twitch, consider video games as important as other forms of entertainment.

“Video games are peers of the movie and music industries,” Patterson said. “Amazon purchasing Twitch is one of the best examples to date of just how big the video game industry has become.”

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