How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the gaming industry and its major stakeholders?

[killamch89]

On 4/6/2023 at 5:50 PM, Syntax said:

I believe that is put a huge impact on things, from events like E3 basically being dead at this point now, to game studios shutting down since they were unable to release or keep a game on track when everything shut down. Are studios back to normal? Kinda, but I still believe that without COVID we probably would have a few more studios or games come to light/life that died off during production.

In the case of E3, it was already on its way out but the pandemic definitely sped up its demise. Even before the pandemic, there were talks of major gaming companies looking to move away from E3.

[Ravenfreak]

It's definitely has made a huge impact on gaming events like E3. Also with the chip shortage it made launching the PS5 pretty difficult for Sony. The Xbox Series X also seemed to suffer from this as well, the Series S really didn't since more people originally wanted to go with the X since it's better in every aspect. (The Series S is fine if you don't have a 4K tv and only have digital titles.) It's not only affected the current gen, retro game prices have skyrocketed since the pandemic as well since people were forced to stay at home.

[killamch89]

On 4/15/2023 at 8:26 PM, Ravenfreak said:

It's definitely has made a huge impact on gaming events like E3. Also with the chip shortage it made launching the PS5 pretty difficult for Sony. The Xbox Series X also seemed to suffer from this as well, the Series S really didn't since more people originally wanted to go with the X since it's better in every aspect. (The Series S is fine if you don't have a 4K tv and only have digital titles.) It's not only affected the current gen, retro game prices have skyrocketed since the pandemic as well since people were forced to stay at home.

Don't forget the GPU and CPU prices - good gosh! At times, it seemed like the only way to get one was to donate an organ for cash or something. I'm glad the prices have decreased to a somewhat affordable point and even now, I've kind of started to tell people that building PCs is WAY too expensive. Just buy pre-built or go with a gaming laptop.

[Debashis]

I feel the COVID-19 pandemic had a mixed impact on the gaming industry. While some sectors, like mobile gaming and digital sales, have thrived, others, like physical retail and live events, have suffered. Major stakeholders had to adapt to new trends, increased player engagement, and evolving market dynamics.

[NightmareFarm]

It has brought a lot of people into gaming i'd imagine. Other than that I dont think it had that big of a lasting impact on the industry. Most of the influence COVID had on the gaming industry were temporary and were reversed when the pandemic ended in 2022, like the shortage of next gen consoles and the constant delays in the 2020-2022 period. 

[Heatman]

Personally, I believe that the pandemic of coronavirus was very beneficial for the gaming industry. Millions of people started playing video games more because they were stuck at home without having anywhere to go. 

[Ajay25]

I agree with Heatman, I actually think more people discovered and had plenty of hours to play games, and there's a rise of a whole new segment of casual games

[Knight Barida]

17 hours ago, Ajay25 said:

I agree with Heatman, I actually think more people discovered and had plenty of hours to play games, and there's a rise of a whole new segment of casual games

 

There is no doubt that the period when we had more people playing games was when they were made to stay indoors. It was an exciting period for a whole lot of people back in those days as they had more time to play their favourite games.

[Scorpion]

I think COVID pushed big gaming companies to adapt, leading to delays, remote development, and a surge in digital sales.