A recent report revealed that the video game industry overtook the combined sports and film industries in 2020 due to the Chinese coronavirus.
IDC data shows that global video game revenue is expected to increase 20% to $ 179.7 billion in 2020, while the sports and film industries suffer from the Wuhan virus, according to a report by MarketWatch.
With the video game industry estimated to rise to $ 179.7 billion, the global film industry reached $ 100 billion in revenue for the first time in 2019, while American sports are expected to generate more than $ 75 billion in 2020 .
The report added that the double-digit growth of the video game industry is followed by high single-digit growth in the previous two years. In addition, experts expect growth to continue in 2021, as Sony recently launched next generation game consoles.
On June 14, 2018, people from the archive will go online next to the PlayStation booth at the 24th Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Sony said on Wednesday, September 16, 2020, that its next PlayStation 5 video game console will cost $ 500 and launch on November 12, creating a holiday battle with Microsoft’s Xbox Series X on whose new console will appear more under the tree this year. (Photo AP / Damian Dovarganes, Archive)
“I really think there will be a slowdown as soon as effective, cheap and globally available vaccines are launched over the course of 2021, but I’m sure that by the end of 2021 there will still be billions of potential people who will need vaccines,” said the research director for games from IDC, Lewis Ward, to MarketWatch. “So, my slowdown happens in 2022.”
While console sales will grow with the release of new versions, the fastest growing faction in the gaming industry, however, is mobile gaming, which is expected to grow 24% to $ 87.7 billion.
This increase is partly due to China’s lifting of the ban on gaming consoles, Ward said, adding that revenues from the Asia / Pacific region are expected to increase almost 25% over the previous year, to $ 56.6 billion.
The report adds that PC gaming revenue has declined due to the closure of popular iCafes in China in response to the Wuhan virus.
A survey released over the summer showed 79 percent of respondents saying they had played video games in the past six months – or since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic in March – with an average of 14 hours of game play per week, compared to an average of 12 hours a week for a year, according to Mat Piscatella, video game analyst at NPD.
Piscatella added that with all the options that exist, Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty franchise “is the best example of an omni approach”.
“They are the ones who are leading the way in calling for many different forms of engagement,” said Piscatella.
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