How COVID-19 Made Video Games Bigger Than Ever

We are continuing to discover news ways that COVID-19 has impacted our communities. Countless people are either out of work or working from home, and many small businesses teeter on the edge of destruction as customers are forced to stay home.

Not every industry is suffering, though. In fact, the video game industry is doing better than ever. How did this happen? We’ve got the full lowdown on how COVID-19 has affected the gaming industry.

The Big Jump

You’ve probably noticed more people on your social media feed talking about playing video games. And it’s not just because of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Thanks to social isolation caused by COVID-19, video game use in the U.S. has increased by a whopping 45%. And this is part of a worldwide trend. France had a 38% jump, the UK had a 29% jump, and Germany had a 20% jump.

All of this data supports something we’ve known all along: video games are a great way to spend your free time. There are no more excuses for ignoring that backlog of unbeaten games in your library!

Start the Download

All of that video game usage has translated to additional spending. For example, 39% of Americans are now spending more money on games than they were before. But not every video game seller is walking away a winner.

Because people are stuck at home, most of these sales are through digital downloads on one platform or another. Part of this is due to simple convenience, and the other part is that brick-and-mortar stores like GameStop are shut down during the crisis.

Before that, though, GameStop got a lot of bad press for their bungled attempt to label themselves as “an essential business.” The company was already planning to close 300 stores this year, and a prolonged shutdown could bring more problems for their business.