Video game sales are set to decline annually for the first time in years, as another industry that boomed in the coronavirus era faces the grim prospect of a recession.
The global games and services market is forecast to contract 1.2% year-on-year to $188 billion in 2022, according to research from market data firm Ampere Analysis.
The sector expanded 26% from 2019 to 2021, reaching a record $191 billion in size. Sales of video games have consistently grown since at least 2015, Ampere data shows.
Gaming got a huge boost from Covid-19 shutdowns in 2020 as people spent more of their time indoors. The launch of next-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony that same year also bolstered the industry’s fortunes.
However, the arrival of Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S machines and Sony’s PlayStation 5 proved something of a double-edged sword — logistics disruptions and shortages of vital components have meant that shoppers are facing great difficulty finding any of the new consoles on store shelves or online.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — along with supply chain bottlenecks and rising inflation — further worsened the outlook for gaming. Numerous game software and hardware makers decided to suspend their operations in Russia, including Microsoft and Sony.
Russia was the world’s 10th-largest games market in 2021, according to Ampere. But it is expected to drop to No. 14 in the global rankings this year and lose $1.2 billion in value, the firm said.
Piers Harding-Rolls, research director at Ampere, said the figures show the games industry isn’t “recession proof,” with cost-of-living challenges inflicted by higher prices likely to weigh on consumption.
“After two years of huge expansion, the games market is poised to hand back a bit of that growth in 2022 as multiple factors combine to undermine performance,” Harding-Rolls said.
“Even so, the year will end well ahead of pre-pandemic performance, and the outlook for the sector as a whole remains positive, with growth forecast to return in 2023,” he added.
The market is expected to return to growth in 2023, with sales expected to hit $195 billion, according to Ampere.
Other challenges facing the industry include privacy changes from Apple that make it harder for mobile game developers to track iPhone users, as well as delays to blockbuster releases like Microsoft’s Starfield and Redfall.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I'm got so many games in my Steam library that I have plenty for years. lol
Krayon sexually assaulted his sister.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I think this is the problem, video game companies are competing against themselves.
As an exemple I have two assassin's creed games I bought for 15$ years ago that I could still play for many more hours, why buy a new one?
Companies make super massive games that are similar to one another, and they all compete for the few hours I have to game each week.
Even the indie market has reached a point where I have no way to exhaust the high quality games that are discounted to 10$ after a year or two.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
It's because there's no sense of progression.
The modern game is indistinguishable from a good game I passed over 5 years ago. There's no features that were impossible back then, there's no massive changes in technology. So yeah why wouldn't I just play my backlog? I don't even need new hardware, my GPU is 7 years old, doesn't matter.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Well put.
I think the late ps3/360 era was when this plateau appeared; now it takes too much manpower hours to beat it.
G*mers often complain about nothing new coming out, but tbh they live in a golden age of gaming and should enjoy it.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
Yeah that’s my big issue. I used to play for 8 hours a day and now I play maybe max 4 on a good day.
Krayon sexually assaulted his sister.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
I would leave that fact out on future first dates. Just an FYI
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jokes on you CHUD I have all those games to play when my wife is out on dates.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Playing call of chud while some beta bux feeds your wife. Is just like when they send in a little guy to get the horse gussy all warmed up before they even bother the stud to jump in
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Same with movies, tv shows, audiobooks etc, set up automated self-hosted everything but never consoom them in the end LMAO
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
The plight of the man who knows how to pirate: Your bank account stays the same, but your time on this Earth is drained away in its place.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
There’s literally nothing in the entire steam catalog I actually want to play right now. I’m becoming too much of a boomer for this vidya shit
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I lost interest for a time. I got it back when I had more free time.
Krayon sexually assaulted his sister.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
C*M PUPPIes FROm PLANAt X -- ""CIA MIND FELLATTIO""" WE Must Resitst Theyre CRIES. DONT BElive me. ? Ok Thx;
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
You seemed like a sims only kinda foid to me.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I have that too lol
Krayon sexually assaulted his sister.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context