CoronaVirus pandemic has negatively impacted almost every part of the entertainment industry while the video game industry keeps shining till the end of the year. There has been a constant urge and increase in the video game players due to the lockdown and people stuck at their homes. More people of different age groups were seen to have played more games during the pandemic to avoid stress, and become socially active online by playing games with their friends and family.
With everything on the rise, we are going to cover everything about the facts and figures associated with the game industry by the end of 2020 including how game developers faced issues like remote work from home policy, hardware and infrastructure related issues and general challenges faced while working from home.
2020 Global Games Market with per-device & Segment year on year growth as per NewZoo is as shown in the image below:
2020 Estimated FACTS and FIGURES about the Video Game Industry:
The worldwide pandemic has had a positive impact on the game industry with an increase in the number of sales and gamers worldwide. The fast-growing industry is showing no signs to stop. The global games market is worth around $160 billion with increased revenues by +9.3%. There was a growth in user engagement as well.
Mobile gaming has become the biggest growth generating part with $77.2 billion this year according to NewZoo. With Console taking up second place with $45.2 billion and PC games around $39.9 billion
Increase in the number of Game Players Worldwide:
There is a prediction that by the end of this year there will be 2.7 million more players across the globe. With the growth in the gaming market and availability of a variety of engaging and entertaining mobile, PC, and console games this industry has taken a rise in growth.
Playing games with family and friends proves to have a positive impact on our health and mental thinking. With confinement in homes, playing video games has helped people to reduce anxiety and stay occupied. A chart depicts the distribution of gamers worldwide.
Entertainment Software Association Survey:
According to a survey carried out by Entertainment Software Association here are 2020 Facts about Video Game Industry.
- Around close to 214 million Americans play video games.
- There is one player in 75% of the American household.
- 35-44 is the average age of the gamers
- Stress-free and feel relaxed says 79% of gamers
- Around 87% of males ages between 55-64 and 82% of female gamers aged between the same says it provides mental relaxation
HOW GAME DEVELOPERS ADAPTED TO REMOTE WORKING DURING PANDEMIC?
With the exposure of the virus, many companies imposed a work from home set up to prevent the spread of the virus and keep their employees safe during these tough times. Some online articles also confirmed that game developers are facing issues because of remote work imposed. Everyone in the game industry is adjusting to the new norms of COVID-19. Keeping up with the schedule, work setups, and timely deadlines can be tedious.
Issues Faced by Developers:
- Big Games with large size repositories require efficient data connection directly to the servers present at the office location. Because of this the downloading or uploading speed may get impacted.
- Problems related to infrastructure and requirement: Some developers claimed that it was a bit difficult to move the entire setup comprising hardware software, office desk to their homes but then with collective efforts of the team it was achievable. The tasks were divided and people based on their work requirements started to connect with colleagues for their requirements. On the other hand, VR developers faced issues because testing and development require a large PC setup, so the entire setup of headsets, hardware required for the development was shifted to employees’ home which was a bit troublesome in the beginning. The benefits of a separate VR testing room in the company’s office setup cannot be earned by working at an available space in an employee’s home.
- Emotionally draining: It was tedious and exhausting for game developers who were less socializing with people, managing kids while ditching the regular office culture and going out for fun activities. Keeping the kids busy, and providing them with all the necessities and wellbeing is something which is emotionally and mentally draining according to some of the game developers.
Lack of a normal work schedule like coffee conversations, play activities, socializing and lunchtimes have impacted a lot of people working from home. It was difficult to shift from office culture to a remote working schedule right from managing work setup, home amenities, looking after kids and parents, taking care of everyone and your own mental and physical well-being can be stressful especially with a lot of virus related fear all around. Still, developers are finding a way to adapt to the new work policy and are seamlessly working hard to develop and deliver engaging, entertaining, and fun games to video game lovers worldwide.
Canceled and Affected Game Industry Events and Functions
Due to the pandemic, public gatherings were banned and many of the popular industry events were canceled and postponed.
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) canceled its event E3 2020 amid the pandemic and has plans to organize it in 2021. Many other events were also canceled or arranged virtually due to the virus spreading on large scale as below:
- Paris game week was canceled that was planned in October 2020
- The annual Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo was also canceled.
- Brasil Game show planned for October 2020 was also canceled.
- Mobile world congress had to cancel their plans for the event as the majority of china based vendors canceled their plans.
- Some vendors at PAX East in Boston postponed their plans by the end of February 2020.
- Many companies backed off from the GDC-2020 (Game Developer Conference) intended to happen in March 2020 in San Francisco. The organizers had to postpone the show until later 2020 with online meeting arrangements.
- GameConnection America 2020 was postponed and then acknowledging the outbreak of the virus in Europe and United States it was canceled.
- The Electronic Entertainment Expo which is the biggest gaming convention was canceled due to CoronaVirus.
- Another biggest event Gamescom 2020 supposed to happen in Germany was then organized virtually.
Conclusion:
Many celebrated 2020 with plans and happiness but no one knew what 2020 has for all of us. Everyone faced the impact this pandemic had over their lives in terms of professional aspects as well as personal.
The game industry continues to grow and developers continue to deploy the latest models of game development to keep their audience entertained and engaged. Game studios across the globe have benefitted from external resources, work-partners and vendors during the pandemic year 2020. Be it work-for-hire game development teams, dedicated game QA vendors, 3rd party game testing agencies or even remotely working artists, freelancers and virtual assistants to perform various tasks as part of the game development process. And based on that, the game studios are setting up their preferences and adjusting to the new environment.
Many game developers and people working from home had to adapt to the new work culture and had to also give ample time to their personal life. Nonetheless, the stats that we discussed indicate a rise in the gaming industry and researchers believe it might continue to grow even in 2021.
As we come across the end of this global pandemic year, let us all pray and hope that this new year relieves our pain and provides us with good health.
