We already know that the world is on the verge of a huge economic crisis. And coronavirus is one of the major catalysts of it.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve seen a lot of industries go down because businesses have to close and go on quarantine. The travel industry, hospitality industry, and even manufacturing – these are only a few of the examples that are already affected by the pandemic.
BBC also reports a big plummeting drop in the stock markets worldwide after the coronavirus has hit European countries, claiming that some of the stock markets haven’t seen such a decline since 1987.
The source also reports that the world won’t recover from this crisis until the mid-2021.
How Will Coronavirus-Triggered Crisis Impact the Gaming Industry?
We already talked about the drop in gaming hardware revenue that major companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have been experiencing since the end of 2019. This drop, however, did not happen due to coronavirus, but rather due to the end of the holiday season, when these companies usually see their sales go up.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that coronavirus won’t impact the gaming industry. The fact that many companies were forced to go on quarantine may affect their performance, the launch of new games and gaming hardware updates.
This might happen in the long run.
But does the coronavirus already have an impact on the gaming industry?
Let’s take a look.
EA Cancels Apex Legends and FIFA Events
A week ago, ESPN reported that Electronic Arts had to postpone the Apex Legends Global Series competition indefinitely and completely cancel the EA Sports FIFA competition.
These events unite thousands of people from around the world who, this year, were to gather in Texas to participate in gaming competitions.
Electronic Arts decided to follow the CDC recommendations to postpone all the events that unite over 50 people. As a result, the company is losing money after already going through a big drop in shares in February.
How will it impact EA in the long run? The novel coronavirus could be a blessing in disguise for Electronic Arts. As the entire world goes on quarantine, Electronic Arts has dropped the prices for its most popular games, such as Sims 4 and Apex Legends.
So, there is a possibility that, as more people are forced to stay at home, EA will sell more games to entertain those on quarantine and improve the company’s financial situation.
Nintendo and the Delay of Switch Production and Shipping
In February, when Japan became one of the hotspots of the coronavirus outbreak, Nintendo announced that it postpones the Switch productions of Animal Crossing and the shipments of the console.
Nintendo started experiencing troubles after the initial coronavirus outbreak in China since Nintendo produces its hardware and single-board computer details there. This also forced the company to postpone the release of Ring Fit Adventure, which is the new fitness RPG that uses a ring-like controller.
For Nintendo, this is a big issue since they have a lot of new releases this year, both in terms of games and gaming hardware. And since the coronavirus-related quarantine has been extended, there is no definite date when Nintendo can renew the delayed Switch productions and shipping.
Good News for PS5
In one of our previous articles, we mentioned that Sony PlayStation is working on releasing PS5 later this year. Although the coronavirus outbreak has affected the company’s working routine, Sony doesn’t report any delays in the release of PS5.
As of last week, Sony’s PR team said that the coronavirus outbreak hasn’t yet impacted the release date of PS5. The same is with Microsoft’s Xbox release scheduled for the same time. The timing could change, however, as the situation with coronavirus is still developing.
What’s Next?
Time will tell. ⏳
We’ll have to wait and see how the economic crisis will impact the gaming industry. But, just by looking at so many industries going down, it will be foolish to deny that it won’t affect the gaming industry.
But while main players in the gaming industry are already experiencing the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak both on their schedule and on the economy, companies still expect a considerable increase in revenue, as more and more people will be interested in buying gaming hardware and games for entertainment.