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Ampere Analysis Report: Video Game Industry Projected to Decline by 1.2% in 2022
posted on by Adriana Hazra
CNBC reported on Thursday that a report by research and market data firm Ampere Analysis projects that the global video games and services market might decline by 1.2% year-on-year to US$188 billion in 2022. According to Ampere's projections, however, the industry is expected to Bounce Back and achieve a value of US$195 billion in 2023.
The the global video games industry expanded by 26% and grew to US$191 billion in size from 2019 to 2021.
The report stated that the Russian gaming market is expected to decline by US$1.2 billion from 2021 to 2022. This would put the world's 10th-largest gaming market in 2021 at #14 in the global rankings in 2022. Nintendo announced in March that it has suspended its online eShop retail service in Russia. Sony later announced that it has suspended all PlayStation software and hardware sales in Russia as well as PlayStation Store operations in the country due to the country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Apple and Microsoft have also ceased sales and services in Russia during this time.
Kotaku and ICv2 also reported on Thursday that GameStop terminated its Chief Financial Officer Michael Mecupero on Thursday after a year at the company. The company has appointed Diana Saadeh-Jajeh as the new CFO. GameStop lost US$381.3 million in its last fiscal year that ended on January 29, 2022. Kotaku also reported that GameStop initiated another round of mass layoffs, although it stated it is unclear how many employees were affected. GameStop had a previous round of layoffs in late May that affected more than 100 employees.
Sony revealed in its financial results presentation for the fiscal year 2021 (April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022) that it had shipped a total of 19.3 million units of its PlayStation 5 console worldwide, with 2 million of those units shipping in the final quarter of the fiscal year. This represents 1.3 million fewer units shipped over the same period last year, when Sony shipped 3.3 million units in the final quarter of fiscal year 2020.
Nintendo's latest earnings report for fiscal year 2021 (April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022) stated that shortages of semiconductor components and other parts resulted in a 20% decrease of console sales that fiscal year to 23.06 million units, down from fiscal year 2020's 28.83 million units in sales. The company's sales projections for April 2022 to March 2023 expect a 8.9% drop in console sales to 21 million.
Sources: CNBC (Ryan Browne), ICv2 (Milton Griepp), Kotaku (Ethan Gach)
