Tag: Gaming

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Video game industry experiences slow growth in 2024

Game console

The video game industry is experiencing sluggish growth in 2024 for several reasons

Slow console sales

Gaming console sales have not met expectations. For example, sales of Sony’s PlayStation 5 have decreased from 3.3 million units in the same period last year to 2.4 million units in the fiscal first quarter of 2024.

Post-Pandemic

The gaming industry experienced a substantial increase during the COVID-19 pandemic due to people staying indoors more often. Yet, with the easing of restrictions, there has been a noticeable change in consumer habits, with a trend towards increased outdoor activities.

Economic considerations

Increased interest rates and inflation have diminished discretionary income, leading to a decrease in consumer spending on games.

Challenges

The industry has faced mass layoffs and other operational challenges, which have impacted growth.

Despite these challenges, there are optimistic projections for 2025 with anticipated major releases like the eagerly awaited successor to Nintendo’s Switch console and Grand Theft Auto (GTA) VI.

Future

Predictions for 2025 suggest that the new Nintendo console and GTA VI will make a significant impact, potentially revitalizing the industry.

The U.S. and China account for around half of consumer spending on games.

The gaming industry as a whole is currently estimated to be worth around $188 billion globally and this is projected to grow in 2025.

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Xbox gaming platform goes offline

System outage

Microsoft has confirmed problems with accessing its Xbox gaming platform and Teams messaging app in the UK and Europe have now been resolved.

More than 1500 people in the UK reported issues with Xbox Live, according to the outage tracker Downdetector. A similar number also said there were problems with the Teams app.

It left some who had purchased the latest game in the Call of Duty series unable to play. But Microsoft said this had since been fixed.

An artificial increase in synthetic network traffic – whatever that is

On X, Microsoft said the services were impacted by ‘an artificial increase in synthetic network traffic’. Could someone please explain to me what this actually means…? Microsoft went on to say: ‘We’ve made configuration changes to remediate impact and after monitoring the service, we’ve confirmed the issue is now resolved.’ Microsoft previously said it had ‘identified some anomalies within our network infrastructure’. Really, what do these explanations actually explain?

Problem unique to UK & Europe

The problem was unique to customers in the UK and Germany, Microsoft had said earlier on Friday, but it was also reported, on social media, that people in Sweden, Finland and Poland had been unable to access services.

There were reports from both of these countries on Downdetector, as well as other European countries.

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Nintendo continues to be the game master

Nintendo the gamemaster

Nintendo reported better-than-expected sales and profit for fiscal Q2 on Tuesday 6th November 2023 as it continues to benefit from the Zelda game released this year and from the Super Mario Movie.

Nintendo said it sold 6.84 million Switch consoles in the April to September period, up 2.4% year-on-year. The company maintained its forecast for 15 million Switch unit sales. The Nintendo Switch is 6 years old – pretty good going for an old console.

Nintendo raised its sales and profit forecast for its current fiscal year. Nintendo’s revenue fell 4% year-on-year and its profit dropped 19%.

Sales in the first half of the fiscal year were the largest since the launch of the Switch, Nintendo reportedly said in a statement.

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Microsoft’s new $69 billion Activision-Bizzard deal passes UK approval

Call of Duty

Gaming industry’s biggest ever takeover deal

Microsoft’s $69 billion revised offer to buy Call of Duty-maker Activision Blizzard has been approved by UK regulators.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the deal addressed its concerns, after the watchdog blocked the original $69bn (£59bn) bid in April 2023. The green light marks the culmination of a near two-year fight to secure the gaming industry’s biggest-ever takeover.

CMA criticised Microsoft’s conduct.

After the competition watchdog blocked the takeover earlier this year, Microsoft’s president hit out at the CMA’s decision which it said was ‘bad for Britain’.

The CMA chief executive reportedly said: ‘Businesses and their advisors should be in no doubt that the tactics employed by Microsoft are no way to engage with the CMA. Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn’t work. Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money’.

The CMA also said the revised deal would ‘preserve competitive prices’ in the gaming industry and provide more choice and better services.

Prior to the approval, the deal, which makes Microsoft the owner of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch and Candy Crush, could not be finalised globally.

Under the restructured transaction, Microsoft will not acquire cloud rights for existing Activision PC and console games, or for new games released by Activision during the next 15 years. Instead, these rights will be divested to Ubisoft Entertainment before Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, according to the CMA.

Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith seem happy after saying it would be ‘bad for Britain.

‘We’re grateful for the CMA’s thorough review and decision today. We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide’.

Go count the money!