Gaming Industry Future Looks Bright Despite Tumultuous 2023
By Movieguide® Contributor
After enormous growth during the pandemic, the video game industry saw a downturn in 2023. However, gaming has a strong future as the industry continues to find its footing with a mainstream audience.
Gaming has a massive global audience and, in recent years, has had an annual gross hovering at just under $200 billion. The industry saw a massive bump during the pandemic and has largely maintained its increased popularity since. However, 2023 told a different story as gaming companies started to show cracks.
2023 was a grim year for game designers as many major companies significantly downsized their workforce. Unity announced it was cutting 1,100 jobs last year as the company looked to save costs. This continued into 2024 as Unity announced another round of layoffs in January, cutting the company’s positions by 25% from 2022.
Other companies have followed suit as 2024 starts rocky. Microsoft announced 1,900 layoffs within its game division only a few months after spending $69 billion to acquire Activision Blizzard. Riot Games and Bungie have had smaller layoffs, cutting 500 and 100 roles, respectively.
Much of this turmoil has come due to crackdowns in China, which have largely restricted the time the younger generation can spend online. This has also had a major impact on Esports, further eating into the industry’s stability.
Some companies looking to get into gaming also bowed out this year, including TikTok and Amazon, who both shuttered their game studios after failed attempts to launch them during the pandemic.
Those looking to make a living off of video games have also been impacted as Amazon’s Twitch announced earlier this year that it is laying off 500 employees for the sake of the company’s sustainability.
Despite turbulence in the industry, gaming itself is more popular than ever, with incredible room to grow. Video game adaptations in movies and shows saw incredible reach last year. Movieguide® Award nominee THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE grossed over $1 billion globally and ranked as the No. 2 movie at last year’s box office.
Non-video game companies are also investing in the space, such as Netflix, which continues to add multiple video games to its library every month. YouTube launched miniature games on its site called “Playables,” which are available through the site without any additional download.
Amazon is also looking to bring Esports mainstream as it launches a series that tracks the lives of these global competitors.
Some long-established games are also surging in popularity as more people become interested in the industry. Fortnite saw record-high numbers at the end of last year, accumulating over 1.6 billion play-hours during November and December.
Overall, the video game landscape is shifting, and companies are doing their best to stay ahead as they eye the $200 billion industry.
Movieguide® previously reported:
From TV shows and movies to Nintendo’s Super Mario World theme park opening at Universal Studios, gaming seems more popular than ever – and it is.
During the pandemic, gaming saw a stark rise in popularity. As people were forced to stay home, many gravitated towards gaming as a way to fight boredom and stay connected with friends. In the three years since, gaming has maintained its high popularity, a trend that is likely to continue for a long time.
Despite its popularity, gaming is often still viewed as a fringe interest rather than a robust, global industry. However, a look into the industry reveals just how popular video games are in the world of entertainment.
In 2020, the gaming industry grossed $180 billion in revenues. That was more than the global movie industry from the previous year ($100 billion) and all North American sports ($75 billion) combined. The high industry numbers continued in 2021 and 2022 with gaming grossing $192.3 billion and $184.4 billion respectively. Roughly half of 2022’s revenue came from mobile gaming, while PC and console games brought in the rest.
