*By: Madison Alworth*
Snapchat is reportedly getting in on gaming.
The social media company has already begun talks with publishers about creating games specifically for its app, according to The Information, and is hoping to launch a platform this fall.
Snap's move is one indication of the growing interest in gaming, and esports specifically. The latter was once a fringe entertainment activity but is now fully mainstream.
That kind of interest comes as no surprise to Chris Merwin, a vice president and esports analyst at Goldman Sachs.
"This is a market growing in the double digits. It is a $120 billion market globally," Merwin said.
Goldman estimates that 167 million people around the world watch esports events every month. By 2020, the total monthly audience is estimated to reach 276 million people.
But will a big audience necessarily lead to big bucks? Merwin said the digital gaming industry currently faces a lack of infrastructure.
"We think over time, as more infrastructure is built in, monetization for esports can be about $3 billion," Merwin said.
Goldman forecasts the industry, which generated $655 million in revenue in 2017, could hit that $3 billion mark by 2020.
And millennials are driving the growth.
"I think things are changing with younger demographics," Merwin said. "So whether that's traditional TV viewership, or time on the phone, increasingly you're seeing younger demographics socialize in these games, and that's been a big cultural change over the last 5 to 10 years, and I think it will continue over time."
The growth has certainly sparked interest from venture capitalists. The esports industry has brought in $3.3 billion in funding since 2013.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-business-of-esports-with-goldman-sachs)
Darden, the parent company of chain restaurants like Olive Garden and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, beat Wall Street estimates in its latest earnings report.
A former Facebook executive pled guilty to stealing more than $4 million from the company while she was employed there.
Rising safety concerns over water bead products marketed to kids have prompted major retailers like Amazon, Target and Walmart to pull some toys off their shelves.
The Congressional Budget Office said Friday it expects inflation to nearly hit the Federal Reserve's 2% target rate in 2024, as overall growth is expected to slow and unemployment is expected to rise into 2025, according to updated economic projections for the next two years.
Intel is out with a new product to challenge other big players in the space like Nvidia and AMD.
Stocks fell after the opening bell Friday but will end on another positive week.
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Americans picked up their spending from October to November as the unofficial holiday season kicked off, underscoring that shoppers still have power to keep buying.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dropped below 7% to its lowest level since early August, another boost for prospective homebuyers who have largely been held back by sharply higher borrowing costs and heightened competition for relatively few homes for sale.
Mortgage rates have dropped below 7% for the first time since the middle of August.
