Is Coronavirus going to crash the video game market?

[bikingjahuty]

First off, no I'm not one of those people that believes Coronavirus is instadeath to anyone who gets it, and yes, I understand most of the people experiencing the worst of it, including dying are mostly older people. However, its impact on society cannot be understated as its already caused a massive societal panic and people have started to buy up tons of essential items and not so essential items as some form of doomsday stockpile.


For fear of sounding like Seether *shudders* the stock market has been the most volatile it's been since 2008, and in some ways not since 1929. There's no doubt much of this has to do with the economical impact of the virus the world over, but it also represents a much more fundamental problem with our economic system and the many markets that make it up. Pretty much, the world is skating the edge of an economic crisis, which unfortunately entails companies going out of business, layoffs, lower wages, and pretty much people reverting to purchasing necessities to survive.


So with all that doom and gloom out of the way, how do you see all this impacting our little hobby? The title specifies a rather vague and general category of the "video game market" which I mean to include everything from the current industry, but also the value of retro games and the collector's market. How do you see these areas of video game being impacted by the current events of our world? Do you think the video game industry is going to crash again, will prices on retro games finally plummet, or nothing happen and everything will more or less be the same after everything has run its course? Your thoughts.

[kamikazekeeg]

I think it could slow down things, such as new releases, maybe more for smaller companies as I've heard of like Bungie has setup basically a system pretty quickly so that a lot of their employees can work from home, meaning updates and new content won't get delayed much.  So much is digital now, a lot of stuff releasing or out right now, could be alright.  I'm not sure what the stock market does for the big companies more involved with it, like your EA's and Activision's. 

As for more the retro/collector market, there will likely be a dip in sales.  Folks not going out as much, saving up some money in case of financial stuff, I'm not super sure.  I'll find out this Sunday as I sell bead art, toys, and video game stuff casually on the side at like flea markets, but I'm doing a small local convention, probably the last thing I'll do for awhile with the virus stuff going on, so I'll sorta get to see first hand how things are for retro and if people are buying.

[emporerdragon]

I'd say game sales for current and multiplayer games will more likely go up.

With one of the core advices for the pandemic is for people to try to keep themselves isolated and self-quarantine, they'll be in their house more often and will have to rely on more indoor entertainments. So, books, movies, and games. And with the multiplayer games at least, people can still get some human interaction.

The retro market may take a bit of a dive though, based off of how badly the pandemic will financially affect those working in the service, travel, and tourism markets. Those types of businesses are going to have sharp declines which will also affect the employees, who then won't be buying luxuries like retro games, but instead selling off what they currently have.

[oldgamerz]

People will not stop living, people can catch that virus in their own homes, not to sound smug, nothing we can do about that

I don't think a crash will happen due to the Coronavirus, But it may crash from the video game companies greed, with having more and more throwaway games with people buying them like one of my relatives did. and then the game companies closing the digital server, and running away with our money spent on the newer video games. and no longer being able to play that game as a result

If more people get smart A retro video game crash will happen when everything needs to depend on a digital server. Retro games that we will be allowed to keep and play as long as we want. May not be easy to find with more and more collectors out there.

There are 1000's of video game collectors in the US alone and scalpers as well,

I'll be honest I am not paying over $100-$200 on a cheap plastic and unreliable gaming console only for it to be useless in the next 5-10 years, plus paying full price for any digital video game. Only for temporary usage.

Now given the fact that some video games even a baseball game I had back in 2013, can no longer be played or installed for that matter.

I'd rather pay for ROM's that I could keep on a harddrive than digital online only video games,

[hoshichiri]

Not really- I imagine if anything, a temporary dip as people stay home instead of searching out retro games 'in the wild', followed by a brief uptick when things subside & people 'treat' themselves to going out & splurging now that they can.

Of course, given that mail services are still going, I imagine most places & people will take advantage by doing some online sales. Plus, cabin fever is a real thing- a lot of able-bodied folks will likely decide one trip to the mall won't hurt as long as they wash their hands & don't touch anyone.

If anything, I imagine they real effect of this will be on availability of new games. With manufacturing slowed down, we may see shortages of new releases continue for months out. Nothing that would make a title impossible to get, but perhaps just enough to justify pre-ordering stuff you really want.

[justin8301]

I think the virus has the POTENTIAL to disrupt our lives and change the way we live forever to be honest. If it continues to spread, we'll see more Americans that have the ability to work from home actually doing so, and companies will start to learn that those once so important meetings actually can be summed up in an email. Jobs in the retail/service industries could change as well, people may be less likely to go out shopping if they don't have to and start shopping more online; there would still be a need for grocery stores and other essential services but for stores like gamestop (which is already on its way out) that specialize in one particular type of item, this could be the final nail in the coffin.

Personally, I had been contemplating switching over to digital only when this next generation of consoles comes out since I've been running out of physical space for my collection, but this just might be what pushes me over the edge. Only time will tell though.

[tripredacus]

For fear of sounding like Seether *shudders* the stock market has been the most volatile it's been since 2008, and in some ways not since 1929. There's no doubt much of this has to do with the economical impact of the virus the world over

Incorrect. There are two sides to the economy, the soap opera side portrayed by MSM, and how things actually work. COVID-19 has little to do with overall market volitility. A correction was long overdue (and it isn't done yet) and models for what we are seeing now were forecast well before October 2019. The market had its drop due to oil prices and availability. Of course, the news doesn't actually report onc ommodity prices or the stories behind them. It doesn't report on actually important business topics such as supply chain. An equivalent would be for sports media to show baseball scores and standings but not stats, injuries or roster management.

[turf]

This scare is going to cause folks to stay at home.

If folks are staying at home, they’ll get bored. After they’ve had their fill of Netflix and Disney+, folks will look for something else. The more time I spend at home, the more games I play. I don’t think that’ll be much different for the rest of America.

Hasn’t Japan already seen a small jump in new game sales? I think I read that somewhere.  There’s also a chance I just dreamed that up.

[ignition365]

Yeah, I think if anything games will see an increase in demand due to people being quarantined.

Allegedly the covid quarantines are the reason Ring Fit spiked so hard.

[bikingjahuty]

For fear of sounding like Seether *shudders* the stock market has been the most volatile it's been since 2008, and in some ways not since 1929. There's no doubt much of this has to do with the economical impact of the virus the world over

Incorrect. There are two sides to the economy, the soap opera side portrayed by MSM, and how things actually work. COVID-19 has little to do with overall market volitility. A correction was long overdue (and it isn't done yet) and models for what we are seeing now were forecast well before October 2019. The market had its drop due to oil prices and availability. Of course, the news doesn't actually report onc ommodity prices or the stories behind them. It doesn't report on actually important business topics such as supply chain. An equivalent would be for sports media to show baseball scores and standings but not stats, injuries or roster management.

I agree with almost everything you said, except Coronavirus absolutely has a lot to do with it. It's the catalyst that started the "correction." I use quotes on that term because I believe we're in for far more than a simple correction as a result of what has started over the last few weeks. Many asset based markets have been inflated heavily by the Fed's monetary policies of essentially printing massive amounts of money to fuel debt and inflate these assets. There's also interest rates being kept artificially low for over a decade that has inflated this everything bubble we're currently in. Coronovirus seems to have been the pin that popped this bubble and now we're seeing a massive downturn economically.


On top of that, fear of the virus is fueling huge losses in major industries such as travel, tourism, hospitality, restaurant, and entertainment; when people are scared of getting a virus that is being hyped as much as it is they tend to cancel plans and stay home. Combine this with how many governments and organizations are cancelling very large events that bring in millions, it has a major impact on the economy at large. So yes, Coronavirus is absolutely a large part of the equation here, but certainly not being the only reason.

[98dgreen]

A market crash was already going to happen the virus has just moved it up.

[tripredacus]

Yeah I was just talking about that initial drop earlier in the week. The drop today is still related, but I'm certain that it wouldn't have been so bad if the travel ban between US and EU wasn't put into place. Still with these big drops, the COVID-19 is still not the primary reason for the market volatility, it is the actions that governments and companies are taking that is directly relating to it. I guess the further you go down the chain, everything is connected... but none of this was simply caused by pandemic (or previously) epidemic panic or fears on its own.

As far as video games goes, I think digital games will be the big sellers. Physical games might not be quite the same. I had made 2 purchases from Japan just a couple days ago, in hopes that they end up getting over here before things get any worse. I have some same rush type purchases for new computer parts (my gaming computer has some issues and needs an upgrade). After that tho, if I get anything new it would be digital only. But I can think that it would also be a good time to save my money and go through the backlog instead.

[kashell]

Sort of related. The Turbo Grax 16 mini has been delayed.

[turf]

Sort of related. The Turbo Grax 16 mini has been delayed.

Factory shut down?  What happened? 
I guess I could google it.

[ignition365]

Sort of related. The Turbo Grax 16 mini has been delayed.

Factory shut down?  What happened? 
I guess I could google it.

China isn't producing anything right now.