Video Games in Russia

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

Video games increases penetration in Russia in 2019 and now holds higher value share than traditional toys and games

Video games experienced a much stronger performance in Russia in 2019 compared to traditional toys and games, with double-digit current value growth recorded by both video games hardware and video games software resulting in the category now holding the highest value share within the market at the end of the review period. Video games continues to benefit from a wider reach, attracting pre-teens (population aged 7-12 years) through to teenagers and adults, with the latter consumer group including young males who are employed and willing and able to increasingly invest in this form of entertainment.

E-sports and further digitalisation of video games software in 2019 continue to support penetration of gaming in Russia

Increasing demand for digital games continued to support the ongoing stronger performance recorded by video games software in 2019, driven by more affordable prices compared to physical games, a particularly pertinent factor considering the ongoing price sensitivity of many Russians at the end of the review period. This trend is being supported by demand for online and mobile games which are easily accessible, although digital content now dominates value sales of all formats including console and computer games, reducing physical video games to a niche within the market.

Smaller players continue to gain share from major multinationals in 2019 within an increasingly fragmented competitive environment

Wargaming Group Ltd retained its overall leadership of video games in 2019 due its leading position in the largest value category of video games software, where it offers the popular World of Tanks game and is mainly present in online games and seeing rapid growth in mobile games, benefiting from a strong consumer base in addition to encouraging sales through in-game purchases. The remainder of the category remains extremely fragmented with multinational heavyweights such as Blizzard Entertainment Inc, Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Activision Blizzard Inc all ranking highly with low value share, although many of them including Wargaming Group lost value share in 2019, due to increasing pressure from smaller players under others.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

In 2020, value sales of video games are now expected to grow by 18% at constant 2019 prices in light of the impact of COVID-19. This compares to a 12% rise in sales forecast in our 2019 edition of toys and games.

Affected products within video games

With a higher number of adults being forced to remain at home due to the government’s announcement of a nationwide non-working paid holiday starting at the end of March and extended through to May, an increasing number of adults in the country are likely to have turned to various forms of entertainment including gaming. This scenario is set to support the increasing demand for static consoles in 2020 compared to the previous year, and by default also drive demand for physical consoles games as they are often sold as a bundle with the hardware, while digital console games will experience slowing but positive growth.

Recovery and opportunities

Video games is set to return to normalisation in terms of value growth rates at constant 2019 prices from 2021 onwards. Slower growth predicted for the remainder of the forecast period however, will be linked to the performances of both video games hardware and software.

Files are delivered directly into your account within a few minutes of purchase.