Former Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aimé insisted that the video games industry is set to grow after suffering years of decline. The industry has been on a downward trajectory since the COVID-19 pandemic when the industry hit new heights amid global lockdowns.
“Just this past month, late last month, there were a number of game announcements across the industry that consumers reacted really well to,” Fils-Aimé commented. While Nintendo is gearing up to release a follow-up to its Switch console, video game studio Take-Two announced the release of the highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI.
IDC found that global home console spending skyrocketed by 33.9% to $42.9 billion in 2020 while mobile game revenue surged by 32.8% to $99.9 billion. PC gaming rose by 7.4% to $35.6 billion. In 2021, however, console gaming stalled, eventually declining by 3.4% in 2022 before returning to growth the following year. Mobile gaming grew 15% in 2021 before slumping by 3.3% in 2022 and 3.7% in 2023. PC gaming fell by 1.4% in 2022.
Aside from lockdowns, the gaming industry also grew as a result of developers capitalizing on the pandemic situation by releasing hone consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X.