Video Games in Poland

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

Some areas of video games hardware continue to offer further growth potential in Poland in 2019

Video games in Poland continued to experience a strong growth trajectory in 2019, driven by the largest category of video games software. Nevertheless, while hand-held consoles continued to experience declining demand in the country, other areas of video games hardware still offered plenty of growth potential, including AR/VR headsets which continued to record strong volume growth in 2019 although its impressive performance was due to a low sales base.

Digitalisation dominates video games software in 2019

Digitalisation is becoming increasingly prominent in the strongly-performing video games software, with demand for digital content dominating value sales with interest in physical games in Poland continuing to wane. Although many traditional gamers appreciate physical games because they can shelve or resell them or swap boxed games once they lose interest in playing them, storing digital games on video games hardware or a computer is increasingly being seen as more convenient, with all games kept in one place.

Increasing fragmentation within competitive environment for video games in 2019 as appetite for new content amongst gamers drives interest in new entries

Video games became an increasingly fragmented competitive environment in 2019, as smaller players under “others” continued to gain value share. However, the overall category continued to be led by Electronic Arts Polska Sp zoo due to its strength in the larger video games software through lucrative titles like FIFA, Battlefield, Need for Speed and Star Wars with the license for the latter signed off until 2023 giving Electronic Arts the opportunity to produce more new games under the Star Wars theme.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

In 2020, sales of video games are now expected to grow by 13% at constant 2019 prices in light of the impact of COVID-19. This compares to a marginally slower 12% rise in sales forecast in our 2019 edition of toys and games.

Affected products within video games

Trends that were evident at the end of the review period within video games are likely to continue into 2020 during the lockdown in Poland, with video games software set to record the strongest performance in value terms at constant 2019 prices. This will be driven by demand for online games and mobile games, which are dominated by digital content, although computer games and console games will also continue to experience a stronger drive for digital compared to physical content in 2020 as consumers are able to quickly pay for and download digital games, giving them immediate access as their appetite for new content is likely to be amplified during the lockdown due to significant gaming time.

Recovery and opportunities

Video games is set to strengthen its performance over the forecast period with value growth at constant 2019 prices continuing to gain momentum from 2021 onwards.

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