Can Black Friday Bring Video Game Sales Back to Life?

As the holiday spending season kicks off with Black Friday, the video game industry is struggling to maintain sales momentum following a surge in spending during the pandemic.

The global gaming market, which is expected to reach $75 billion by 2026, could see its first annual sales decline in at least a decade due to inflationary pressures and recession concerns.

Consumer spending on video game software is projected to decline by 4.3% in 2022, per Newzoo. In comparison, consumer spending on gaming software grew 7.6% last year and 25% in 2020.

Industry leaders have posted underwhelming earnings ahead of the holiday season, as well.

• Electronic Arts, publisher of Madden NFL and FIFA games, estimates net bookings in FY2023 to range between $7.65 billion and $7.85 billion, down from a previous projection between $7.9 billion and $8.1 billion.
• Take-Two Interactive previously projected revenue to reach $5.8 billion in FY2023, but the 2K owner now expects revenue to range between $5.4 billion and $5.5 billion. 
• Activision Blizzard — publisher of the “Call of Duty” series — posted net bookings of $1.83 billion in Q3 2022, down from $1.88 billion for the same period last year.

Sony’s Game & Network Services segment posted $4.8 billion in sales but suffered a 49% drop in profit for the quarter ending Sept. 30.

These recent concerns arrive amid some blockbuster deals in gaming. 

Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, but the deal is under scrutiny by antitrust watchdogs in the U.S., U.K., and European Union.

In January, Sony agreed to purchase video game developer Bungie for $3.6 billion.