Game-based Learning Market 2025: Trends, Growth & Statistics

With the rise in gaming culture around the world, teachers and educators are also taking this opportunity to inculcate game-based learning into the system. Quite simply, game-based learning is a teaching method that uses games to help students learn. Now, the games can be either digital i.e. videogames or board games like chess or Chinese checkers or something as simple as cards. Whatever the game, if it’s used to impart knowledge and learning to students, it is game-based learning. Let’s learn about it in detail.

Introduction

The game-based learning market is booming at the moment, thanks largely in part to the rise of gamers and gaming culture around the world. As gaming enthusiasts, videogame streamers, and gamification have become increasingly popular with the younger generation, this felt like a good opportunity to use this as an education initiative.

Game-based learning is also being actively incorporated into classrooms. From quizzes to simulations to board games to the ever-addictive video games, game-based learning is actively seeping into the very fabric of modern-day education.

It is, however, different than gamification. Gamification is about choosing certain elements from playing a game and applying them to other walks of life. Elements such as points scoring, the nature of competition, rules and regulations, etc., are often taken from games and put to use in other areas of life. This is called gamification. It awards badges or points inside a classroom. Game-based learning uses the whole game in its entirety, not just to play it for fun. Instead, it uses it as a learning method. Here’s more about how it is growing in the market.

Market Growth and Statistics

As per a report by Grand View Research, the market size of game-based learning was somewhere around $16.16 billion in 2023. Predictions suggest that the CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) from here onwards will be around 22% till 2030. This increasing demand for game-based learning is due to the rise in demand for immersive and interactive mediums.

Students and professionals are realizing rapidly how effective and impactful an immersive experience can be. It doesn’t just make learning more efficient but people can have a lot of fun while doing it. Since this is a breakaway from the usual norms of studying and learning, users are finding it fresh and exciting.

It is also aided by the fact that video games nowadays are constantly evolving and becoming far more interactive than it ever was before. Game Designers are at work at all times, and the demand for interactive and immersive experiences has given a boost to the entire game design industry. But game-based learning isn’t dying out anytime soon since teachers and educators have witnessed its multivariate benefits.

A study done by the National Library of Medicine in 2023 infers that game-based learning positively impacted students. When learning mathematics, students saw a spike in their interest and motivation. Students also showed a more positive and confident attitude while learning, and the result was reflected in their academic achievements.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, game-based learning saw a huge growth in interest. Schools, colleges, Universities, and training centers started adopting it en masse. After people saw the many advantages of it, even those who favored traditional modes of education didn’t have any complaints.

While different sorts of games have capitalized on the market, the largest of them all was done by location-based games. They led the market based on game type with a revenue share of 39.6%. Based on application, the training and development segment led the market with the largest revenue of 44.8% in 2023. Among end-user segments, education took the largest portion of the pie, whereas the solution segment led the market with 73.2% among component-based segments.

As per regions around the world, the North American market, specifically the US, dominated the largest game-based learning market. However, this mode of learning is gaining steadfast popularity in other regions like Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.

Amazon, Google, Duolingo, Mojang, Kahoot, Epic Games, Age of Learning, etc., are the companies that are leading the game-based learning market.

Key Trends Shaping Game-Based Learning in 2025

As the gaming industry constantly keeps growing, so will the game-based learning market. With the dawn of new and innovative AI models, game-based learning is likely to be impacted by it. Besides AI, several new trends will also shape this burgeoning market.

1. Integration of Media and Education

As of now, simpler topics have been discussed via game-based learning. However, the integration of media and education will allow for the deconstruction of complex subjects and thereby, enhance user engagement. It is still an ambitious attempt, one that is still in its infancy stage.

2. Mobile Learning

While mobile devices such as smartphones with touch screens and motion sensors are used widely by young people, it hasn’t quite cracked the game-based learning methodology in these pocket devices. A mobile game-based learning app can make learning far more frequent and effective.

3. AR/VR

While they already exist in game-based learning, further evolution will make the experience more immersive, and hence, more impactful. It will provide more hands-on experience without being physically present.

4. Storytelling

Immersive experiences that will tackle real-life challenges through storytelling will be a trend to look out for.

5. Business-related Tasks

Game-based learning can be easily used for better project planning, stakeholder management, cost management, decision-making, and risk-management skills among others.

Top 8 Career Opportunities in Game-Based Learning

Game-based learning can open up innumerable job opportunities for an individual. Here are some of the best career opportunities for a game-based learning professional:

1. Game-based Learning Designer

Design games for learning and development from an early age. Inculcate the learnings imbibed during one’s course and make more proficient and efficient models for the next generation.

2. Game-based Learning Facilitator

A game-based learning facilitator can moderate how games are played in places such as classrooms. They can analyze and suggest appropriate games for appropriate demographics such as age and gender, that will lead to better development.

3. Game Designer

They create more immersive and interactive games that enhance the learning experience from games.

4. Systems Designer

Part of game designers, they create the software that powers the system of a game.

5. Level Designer

Part of Game Designers, they create the individual levels or stages inside a game. They can create a more engaging experience in each step.

6. Game Programmer

They work in the digital space and write the code that powers the game-based learning tool.

7. Analysts

They analyze the effectiveness of each game-based learning model. With the data accumulated, they infer what changes are required. They help create more progressive games.

8. Game-based Learning Consultant

They are the ones who advise schools, colleges, and Universities on how to incorporate game-based learning into their curriculum.

How a Game Design & Development Course Prepares You for This Industry?

A game-based learning industry is very closely associated with the gaming industry at large. Even though game-based learning includes non-digital games such as board games, cards, and other physical ones, a large portion of it is also achieved via digital gameplay. Creating more immersive video games, making every level of a game more engaging, enhancing the graphics, and improving the overall gaming experience for users, are at the core of a game design and development course. Imbibing those skills will be extremely beneficial for a game-based learning professional. The skills learned during a game design course or job can easily be applied to improve a game-based learning scenario.

The creativity aspect that a game designer and developer learns during this course will help him/her find innovative solutions to game-based learning. It will enable them to come up with innovative solutions and a more dynamic and time-efficient approach to learning more from simpler games. Better and more skilled game designers can ensure that complex concepts that require a detailed understanding can also be achieved through game-based learning. It just requires a simpler and more strategic breakdown of the concept, that will be finely integrated into the game.

With the substantial rise in the gaming world, this seems like a great opportunity to improve the standards of learning through this concept. This would not have any negative impact on students and also improve the standard of learning by a significant amount.