2024-02-12 16:22:21
A big step backwards in 2022, almost standing still in 2023 and a restart this year: this is the trajectory of the global video game industry. According to Newzoo’s projections for 2024, the sector should increase by 2.9%, over one year, to $189.3 billion (1) before accelerating by 4.1% in 2025 then by 4.3% in 2026. A year in which the symbolic wall of 200 billion could be crossed for the first time, at 205.7 billion.
“The underlying trend and fundamentals of the sector are solid. The supply concerns for the latest generation consoles (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series) are behind us and the number of players installed on these machines is starting to be consistent, with more than 50 million players on the PS5 alone, underlines Charles-Louis Planade, video game financial analyst at TP ICAP. Overall, the number of players continues to grow across all platforms and around the world.”
It is in this promising context that the 100% “made in France” game “Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden” arrives this Tuesday, developed by Don’T Nod and published by Focus Entertainment who have a good shot to play. Just like the French giant Ubisoft with “Skull and Bones” which comes out on Friday. “The enormous success of “Palworld” is proof that the market responds very strongly when the product is good,” points out Charles Louis-Planade. Launched barely three and a half weeks ago, this game – nicknamed “Pokémon with Guns” and produced by an unknown Japanese studio – already has more than 20 million players.
Wave of layoffs
However, there is no shortage of downsides for the video game industry, which the health crisis has taken to the heights of intoxication with a record 2021. The hangover that followed was tough and still isn’t over. Newzoo has revised its forecasts downwards several times over the past fifteen months and recently described the 2024 financial year which is beginning as “sober”.
Riot Games, Unity, Rovio, Activision Blizzard…: more than 6,000 layoffs were recorded in the month of January alone, or more than half of the workforce reductions which had affected just over 10,000 people, across the entire 2023. A phenomenon that affects young and old alike. Economic uncertainty, inflation and the contraction in purchasing power are obviously weighing on video game consumption. But factors intrinsic to the industry also explain the situation.
During the health crisis, many groups hired everywhere and sometimes expensively, while the war for talent was in full swing. At the same time, a flood of games invaded the market. An excess of supply caused by production delays taken by certain players due to confinement and the strategic shifts of others who waited until the PlayStation 5 was no longer out of stock to market their titles. However, at the same time, demand began to run out of steam.
Shooting windows in 2024
Last year, nearly 14,500 games were launched solely on Steam, the benchmark platform for online PC game sales. Compared to just over 8,000 in 2019. “We marketed around twenty games last year compared to a dozen in 2022. But in the future, the idea is to release between ten and fifteen per financial year,” explains Alain. Falc, boss of the French group Nacon.
“The worst of the traffic jam is over,” considers Charles-Louis Planade. The market is cleaning up.” “Tekken 8” (already launched) “Hades 2”, “Star Wars Outlaws”, “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth”, “Dragon’s Dogma 2”, “Assassin’s Creed codename Red”, “STALKER 2: The Heart of Chornobyl”, etc. : there will certainly be no shortage of anticipated games in 2024, especially since everything has not yet been announced.
But nothing compares with the density of the 2023 financial year where the succession of blockbusters will almost never have stopped: “Starfield”, “Forza Motorsport”, “Alan Wake 2”, “Spider-Man 2”, “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora”, “Super Mario Bros. Wonder”, “Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy”, “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”, “Baldur’s Gate 3”, “Street Fighter 6”, “Final Fantasy XVI”, “Diablo IV”, ” Star Wars Jedi: Survivor”… A paradigm that will not displease everyone. Like politics, video games abhor a vacuum and this decongestion opens a window of opportunity for many. Including the “Frenchies” games starting this week.
(1) This amount includes in particular player spending on games in physical format, digital purchases (of the game, but also “in-game” payments), subscription services such as Game Pass, but not purchases consoles or accessories like controllers.
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