Until now, most people didn’t think much of the video game industry. But, according to one market watcher, the video game industry is heading for a record-breaking year, while the movie industry is in its heyday. The makers of FarmVille, Minecraft, and other such games have put them in another league. And, if the popularity of video games continues to grow, we’ll see the movie industry returning to normal in 2021 and 2022.
The video game industry is expected to surpass the movie and sports industries combined, thanks to the growing popularity of the COVID-19 virus. The global video game industry is set to earn $179.7 billion by 2020, up 20% from 2019. By contrast, the global movie and major sports industries will only earn a combined $75 billion in 2020. That’s a significant jump. Those numbers suggest that video games will outpace the movie industry by 2020.
A recent report from MarketWatch says that the video game industry will reach $180 billion in 2020, up from only $148.5 billion in 2018. In the US alone, the industry will generate between $39.5 and $52.5 billion in revenue. While the movie and music industries will still be worth over $100 billion, the video game industry will continue to dominate the market. That means more profit for the game industry, and more competition for film studios.
The video game industry has increased in popularity this year. In the first half of this year, Nintendo’s Wii U consoles alone saw sales increase more than 80 percent. The game company is expected to sell 24 million units in its fiscal year ending in March. The game was released just as lockdowns began to occur in the US, and it’s already on pace to become the best-selling Nintendo Switch game of all time.
