While some industries are seeing a drop in sales and overall activity, others are prospering in this time, particularly industries that depend on customers being trapped at home. We’ve seen this with delivery services, fitness equipment companies, and bread baking companies, and now, according to a new report by The Business Research Company, the role-playing games market is expected to see a 9.22% year -on-year growth up to 2023.
Early on in the pandemic, we witnessed Animal Crossing: New Horizons dominate social media. It proved to be insanely popular, not only in the US, but worldwide. This led the Nintendo Switch to become a hot commodity for many while in quarantine. The game included interactive elements, which as a society, we had been pretty deprived of, so this social element also probably contributed to its mass popularity.
With video game sales being on the rise in general, it’s not difficult to conclude that the global role-playing games (RPGs) market will also experience a growth from $15,793.3 million in 2019 to $22,471.3 million in 2023. According to The Business Research Company, this is due to an increase in the number of people with internet access, technically advanced platforms than what we had previously, and a general increase in the number of gamers involved due to COVID-19.
Personally, I’ve been virtually gaming a lot more with friends while in quarantine. I’ve purchased a Steam product called Tabletop Simulator that has practically every board game and deck building game I’ve played over the course of my whole life now scanned onto a virtual platform. This allows me to play with friends that are hundreds of thousands of miles away from me. In addition, I’ve seen a lot of people opt to begin virtual Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. While these aren’t necessarily standard definitions of RPGs, it’s an indication that people are leaning towards new methods of entertainment than they were before COVID-19.
What factors do you think also lead to this increase in video game sales? What games have you been playing while in quarantine? What other industries do you predict will see higher sales that haven’t yet?
I’ve definitely noticed this change - although I didn’t jump on the animal crossing fandom. I briefly looked into getting a Nintendo Switch, but those sold out almost immediately! I think that for those who lived active lifestyles prior to the quarantine, the announcement of those “stay at home” orders had people searching for things to keep them busy from day 1. We’ve seen it with games, puzzles, bread making, new Netflix shows to “binge,” book sales, downloading cell phone games, etc. I consider myself very active and busy, and I know I did the same thing. I didn’t buy a Switch or get into video games specifically, but I downloaded Sims, Candy Crush, and a few other games on my phone to pass the time. I borrowed books from the library, and started a puzzle trade with friends. I think all these industries have absolutely seen growth and success during this time.