With the launch of COVID-19, the gaming industry is likely to experience a significant amount of disruption. The impact of COVID-19 has sparked a massive number of in-game delays and scope scale-downs. It has also affected businesses that rely on online ad sales and in-game purchases, which have been less affected by the regulations. Game designers and marketers in China are adjusting their monetization models to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on revenue.
In recent years, the global gaming industry has benefited from the rising Internet penetration rate. Since 2010, the number of people with access to the internet has increased significantly, especially in emerging economies. Cheap smartphones from Chinese manufacturers have been increasing internet penetration, and local governments have invested heavily in mobile internet infrastructure. According to GlobalWebIndex, more than a billion people globally stream video games every month. About a quarter of the Internet population watch livestreams of other people playing games.
The growth of the gaming industry could be attributed to the increased demand for video games. In addition to the rise in popularity of video games, new software and game consoles are also set to be released in the coming months. Activision and EA are due to release their holiday quarter earnings reports in the coming weeks. Take-Two Interactive has raised its full-year guidance for 2020, but executives caution that the year after that is still uncertain.
