Growth and technological shifts in Latin American gaming

The global gaming industry continues its expansion, with an estimated 3.6 billion active players. This growth is particularly pronounced in Latin America, which maintains a 25 percent year-on-year increase, positioning it as a primary zone for global commercial investment and development. Beyond entertainment, the gaming ecosystem is recognized as a critical pipeline for technical talent. Curiosity driven by video games often directs individuals toward professional careers in programming, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, the evolution of gaming hardware, such as GPUs, has directly fueled advancements in generative AI and enterprise-level computing. Consumer behavior remains a key driver of the economy. In Mexico, the market has become the largest in the region, with over 76 million active players generating $2.3 billion in annual revenue; notably, 86.9 percent of Mexican gamers utilize mobile devices. Recent data from Rappi indicates that gaming-related orders and sales have grown by 68% and 64% respectively, reflecting a shift where gaming culture influences daily consumer habits, such as the purchase of peripherals like chargers, cables, and headphones. In Peru, which has established itself as the fifth-largest gaming market in Latin America with 7.8 million players, the rise of digital payments is facilitating the monetization of online gaming and iGaming sectors. In Colombia, the gaming market surpassed US$600 million in 2025, while the esports sector reached US$8.79 million in 2024. To address payment infrastructure challenges like cross-border transaction frictions, fintech company Rapyd is implementing solutions to facilitate easier monetization for developers. In Chile, video game exports rose from 0.4 percent in 2020 to 9.5 percent in 2025, supported by professionalized university programs. Between July 2025 and June 2026, the global sector generated US$ 39.4 billion.