Report Overview

COVID-19 games industry update – Resilient and (mostly) on track

Consumer demand for games and consoles has surged during lockdown. Sales are on track for the best year ever, while games production has been resilient, with studios and platforms adapting quickly to distancing and working from home

New consoles will still launch in 2020, but Sony and Microsoft will need to replace tradition with creativity and smarts for this launch cycle

Hollywood’s home entertainment offer is crucially missing games. It’s not too late for Disney to change course, and Warner Bros. to move quickly

Contents

Games demand spikes: peak sales and peak internet usage

Gaming’s impact on telecoms networks

Games Production: Most studios have adapted well to lockdowns, leading to long-term positive changes in work culture

Console launch update: an unexpected sales boom for this generation, concern about what’s next

Promotional channels unavailable

Hollywood miscues on games amplified by COVID-19: an update on our 2020 themes

List of charts/tables

Figure 1: Spend on digital games worldwide ($m)

Figure 2: Unmatched TV use via games consoles by age, 2020 (mins/person/day)

Figure 3: Anecdotal evidence of changes in data traffic

Figure 4: Global average fixed and mobile network download speeds (Mbps)

Figure 5: Network performance since the outbreak by country

Figure 6: US video game hardware YoY sales growth, March 2020

Figure 7: Disney’s The Mandalorian