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.
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Its because all new videogames coming out are SHIT. Even nintendo who usually has atleast good games are releasing lackluster games. The only game I am even remotely excited about this year is the new call of duty which will be fun for a weekend but is ultimately just last years game with a few new things.
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Thats just not true, it's because you grew up and don't enjoy playing games the same way you used to enjoy them. Many great games came out lately like Valorant, Bannerlord, Elden Ring etc. If you are not having fun playing games anymore I suggest changing your approach to them and find a way to rekindle your enjoyment in them.
Examples of alternative ways of gaming:
Trolling
Teamkilling
Cheating
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valorant and bannerlord are not good games
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How? Bannerlord is worse than warband but now that it has custom servers it will eventually overcome warband. And Valorant is just fun so cope
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i've actually never played either of them but i imagine theyre bad
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ok you win
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Based
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lol he said valorant is great
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People will always find enjoyment in any game, no matter how the quality is. Valorant might be good but its just counter strike and overwatch mixed together. Not any groundbreaking concepts and I think thats kinda lazy. I've never heard of bannerlord and I cant deny that elden ring was a amazing game but it was in development for what, 4 years? And when it released absolutely everyone knew that it was game of the year with no contenders. You cant say that aaa development has not gotten lazier over the years. Just look at far cry, the second game is a contender for best survival game ever and helped define a genre that made such games as rust and minecraft. But look at the lates far cry, its a boring, lazy, Just Cause ripoff with reused assets from the last game. Really kinda sad to see.
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You're Wrong about Elden Ring. Once the new God of War comes out it won't even be a competition.
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elden ring is just the same reheated souls game slop that soys have been gooning for since 2011, stop going nuts for these janky 6/10 jap.games jfc
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Bannerlord is not even finished.
I'm having a blast with Elden Ring and Kirby rn.
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Guessing you're a 21-27 year old r-slur with little to no gaming experience.
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is elden ring not actually good? i was looking forward to more fromsoft fun when i got my new pc :(
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R6 died the day they removed teamkilling
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I feel like this has been the case since 2012 or so
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There have been a couple good indie games since then. Like, FTL and stuff. I can't think of any off the top of my head though. Uh, KSP that was fun. Factorio too. Undertale
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Rimworld and Yakuza 0 as well
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You guys are despicable for leaving out the sims and their millions of DLC packs
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Hmm today I will pay $5.99 for a pack that adds dust and vacuum cleaners to my game
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Lol if only, those frickers charge 20$ for furniture/clothing packs and 40$ for lackluster expansion packs
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The best game ever written, Disco Elysium
I know it was written by filthy commies but my point still stands
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Ofc it was, imagine if it was written by rightoids instead.
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it would be a cool video game with badass shit in it
instead of a gay "story driven" snoozefest for nerds
If you go to a video game looking for good writing, you also might be r-slurred.
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I specifically said written you illiterate mong.
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Not an argument.
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the same game but Measurehead is your partner instead of Kim
...goddarn, that game would rule
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like this?
https://steamdb.info/app/1553470/
https://youtube.com/c/castleclique
https://x.com/castle_clique
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badly overrated
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possibly, but name a video game with better writing.
the problem is the medium has been filled with shit writing since ...well, planescape torment.
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Going Medieval for like a medieval Rimworld, Timberborn is cute and fun, Frost Punk is great.
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Outer Wilds was a legitimately great puzzle game doomed to sound too similar to the
Obsidian RPG
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I remember being a little outraged and very impressed at like NHL '95 or so for just reskinning their release from last year with new player names
The time has come for the Necromaster. The unleashing of the fourth joker's card. The arrival of The Great Milenko
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No you guys are just r-slurred and only pay attention to AAAA games
Everyone who says games are shit now is the equivalent of someone who says movies are shit but only watches capeshit
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What indie game would you recommend. Honestly never been TEMPTED by one, ever, so their marketing sucks, to start. Indie games out here not even tempting mfs like the box for Oblivion said "live another life in another world, you pathetic failed nerd."
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Deep Rock Galactic is pretty fun. It goes on sale for $15 too.
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No its not
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What would you like to see in a game?
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Sekiro
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Look at the wikipedia pages for (x year) in video games. It's wild how far quality has nose dived since 2010.
vs
Literally no notable games worth mentioning. Even Ghost of Tsushima wasn't really anything special. If you like vidya and want to be depressed just make your way through the starting paragraphs of those articles for each year.
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You are part of the problem.
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there are so many good games coming out. Steam has an endless stream of games with 'overwhemlingly positive' reviews. It's hard to keep up.
Whether that makes AAA game studios money is another matter. I'm playing Omori and it's made by some weirdo japanese kid
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Don't move we're here to give you your mandatory HRT
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i do feel super gay for playing it
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Looking forward to Scorn myself
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idk how to put it but it looks gorgeously disgusting
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Inspired by Geiger and this guy:
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Yea small dev amd indi shit will always be good, cause theres so many you can always find a game that suits you.
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I don't know much about video games, but I played the new
with one of my little cousins a couple months ago. That seemed pretty good.
Was that an exception, or am I just wildly out of touch with what makes a game good?
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I actually never played that one so I suppose it could be good, im more thinking about the new Pokémon games with ps2 graphics
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Pokemon has literally always been shit you absolute dunderhead.
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Given it is their first time at making a Kirby that doesn't restrict you to a plane, it is pretty good. I was afraid the new vore mechanic is going to feel very tacked-on, but it wasn't that bad. I definitely heard more praise for it than Star Alliance has ever received.
Its soundtrack is great, too.
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which hasn't been exciting for over a decade, so this more likely speaks to your lack of depth, than a problem with the industry.
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Nintendo need to stop being kitties and release advanced wars
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I think there's a lot of good games out there from small developers, but yeah I agree with you I haven't been interested in any AAA games in a long time.
Gaymers are disgusting and I'm def not one, but I've recently been playing Vampire Survivors and Dorfromantik which are good if you have autism
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Well small dev stuff is always good because they usually are more in touch with what people want. But aaa games have been getting steadily lazier year by year.
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You and
@iStillMissEd are just OLD 
(or depressed) a lot of great games have come out.
The last kirby game was fantastic to vibe to and my friend loves the new Rune Factory.
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maybe the problem is you tho
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Smaller title's are still good. Expeditions Rome has been a lot of fun.
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Calisto Protocol, God of War, FF 16, and some others are looking pretty good
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I only play 20 year old unreleased console ports of PC games on my PSP.
Boys, please put your peepees away.
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Baste. I'm playing a fighter/cleric rn.
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Where's the rest of your group of adventurers? You must gather your party before venturing forth.
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For some reason the graphics remind me of Tiberian Sun.
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what game is that
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Cuban Missile Crisis.
I remember playing it when I was 12 and it's a lot different than your typical rts. Units die super easily without sight support. Artillery have to have logistics and be manually reloaded. Like I'm talking an actual truck coming in to reload it and it takes time.
And units all have x amount of ammo too.
It was brutal and of course, euro-janky.
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Getting warm, but no. It is indeed brutally hard though like Cuban Missile Crisis. These are RTT games, not RTS. And yes everything is finite, if you just camp and shoot artillery you will very quickly run out of ammo supplies and get destroyed.
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And yet, here you are.
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It's a neat game but holy frick is it absolutely garbage to actually play, the game favours defenders something fierce. It's best observed rather than played.
If you want something similar but less neurodivergently r-slurred play one of the men of war games.
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Neighbor, fricking Panzers and Tigers on display and you gigandebrained cuba
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There are expansions and mods last I remember
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Some shitty game from Blitzkrieg series most likely
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Just reverse image search if you care lol
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I did, this fricker took it himself you r-slurred BIPOC.
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Ok I just called Kamala, sanctions are removed and you can keep wnba superqween Griner. now wtf is the game, I wanna play.
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Is that Panzer Commander or something like that? I remember playing a demo where I started with 2 AT guns, 3 sqauds, and this mobile LR artillery that would always miss and then get pulverized by enemy artillery.
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Blitzkrieg Anthology?
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