Video Games in the US

PROSPECTS

Free to play and in-game purchases are preferred

Many game developers are now offering some of their titles in the market as free to play, and are focusing more on in-game monetisation strategies. Counter Strike: Global Offensive is an example of a game that used to require gamers to purchase the game in order to play, but it changed in late 2018 to free to play in order to attract more players to the game.

AR/VR headsets grows as new and cheaper models are offered

AR/VR headsets saw strong double-digit current value and volume growth in 2018, due to all manufacturers dropping their prices, allowing for these products to be purchased by all types of consumers. This is evident by VR headsets being used for purposes other than just video gaming.

Battle Royale genre proves popular amongst consumers in 2018

Fortnite and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds started a gaming revolution when they released stand-alone Battle Royale genres in 2017. The success of these two games titles encouraged many other established game brands to release their own versions of Battle Royale.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Activision Blizzard leads video games software, despite share decline

Activision Blizzard (as GBO) led retail value sales of video games software in 2018, as its portfolio of major games, including Overwatch, Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII and World of Warcraft, helped generate significant sales in the PC and console market. Its King Digital Entertainment division helped lead growth in mobile gaming, with game titles such as Candy Crush and Hearthstone both seeing slight sales growth.

Epic Games sees strongest increase, thanks to Fortnite

The largest value share gain for any company in 2018 went to Epic Games, thanks to its title Fortnite. This drove the company to rise from 18th position in video games software in 2017 to fourth position in 2018.

E-sports’ popularity boosts sales of Fortnite

Fortnite was released in the middle of 2017 as a competitor to PUBG in the Battle Royale genre. It was released as a free to play game that allowed it to gain many players in a short period of time.

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