Coronavirus hurts everyone, except video games that make record numbers
The first few months of 2020, partly because of the lack of great games to be released, partly because all investments and communication have been moved close to the launch of PS5 and Xbox Series X, should have registered a sharp drop in earnings globally. In fact, the first 11 weeks of the year, according to GSD data distributed by GamesIndustry in a series of panels on YouTube, recorded an average decline of 16% compared to the previous year.
A trend that it underwent a clear reversal in late March, the moment when half the West closed himself at home and at the same time Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out. Literally the right game at the right time. From that moment on, sales of software and hardware have skyrocketed. + 51% compared to the same period of 2019 (i.e. weeks 11 to 22) and 13% more if we also consider the first 11 weeks of the year.
The Last of Us Part 2 registered the Sony's best digital launch ever, Animal Crossing: New Horizons broke Nintendo's record. Even the physical market has grown by 8%. An incredible figure, considering that the shops were all closed and advertising investments reduced to a tiny bit.
And the games already on the market, such as Fortnite, Warzone and FIFA 20 have recorded numbers that have not been seen for years.
With the people locked up at home in front of a screen, the big companies have also been able to do in less than E3, which has become useless for the big publishers that have had much better results with the conferences digital this year.
this positive picture, we can add the fact that many hardware manufacturers, such as AMD , are able to eliminate delays and deliver the chip to PS5 and Xbox Series X respecting the roadmaps , so as to start the new generation with no complications whatsoever.
With the development studies that have been able to organise work so that employees can carry out their duties from home, it seems that there is nothing in this situation that could scare off an industry that has been able to take advantage of a dramatic situation in a positive way and proactive. An attitude that has allowed us to gain thousands of customers in more.
The real danger, in our opinion, is that these numbers are "drug addicts" and this attention disproportionate push the various companies not to consider this situation as exceptional and make plans and projects on the basis of the results ottinuti in these weeks. In other words, the true accounts will be next year , when people will no longer be in the house to see the conference, will have a hard time to buy the new console, and not have dozens of hours a week to dedicate to FIFA 21 , Fortnite, or Animal Crossing.
In other words, for the video game market, the crisis might have only been postponed for a few months. Or do you believe that the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X , with the great clamor that is generating, it will fail to disguise this backlash? Or that a series of lucky events, manages to overcome the video game industry one of the largest economic and social crises of all time.
What do you think? Let's talk about it!
