COVID-19 and GAMING
#futuretelling
So here are my two cents on what's going to happen in the mobile gaming world during the next 2-3 months as countries start restricting movement and people generally stop traveling.
I look back at the 2008 financial meltdown as a reference, and while in this case, people had to worry about money rather than, you know death, I still feel the comparison is relevant.
The crunch caused people to engage in money-saving tactics like never before. They stopped spending money on normal entertainment options, such as going to the movies, something people did before Netflix, going on trips, something people did before Netflix, and generally hanging out in physical locations together, something people did before Whatsapp, Snapchat and Netflix.
So, where did they end up spending all that extra time? Playing mobile games. They saw it as a cheap alternative to everything else in their lives at the time, as well as a great distraction from the doom and gloom of their impending evictions, layoffs, and crushed dreams.
With all that in mind, here is what I think the next few months will look like. Usually, Q2 is a shitty time for gaming companies. People are coming out of the crappy winter months and want to be outside and see the sun. They usually spend less time on their phones, increase media costs, and lowering engagement metrics.
Enter COVID-19, and for many, the springtime will be one of 4 walls and no access to fresh food. Their isolation will lead to lots and lots of babies in 9 months, but one can only have so much sex.
Eventually, more and more people will find that their partners and family have begun to annoy them on a level rarely seen beyond awkward Christmas dinners with dislike inlaws, and turn to their phones to escape.
As such, I predict that mobile gaming will see a significant increase in revenue and session counts in those markets affected by COVID-19. Impression counts will also climb, and the cost of media will decline as major FMCG pull their marketing dollars since one can leave their homes. So if Italy is any indication on how the rest of EU and potentially the US is going, then get your Ad buyers prepped, hopefully in a clean room somewhere, because April and May just might be amazing.... for buying media for games.
Adam, thanks for sharing!
Games Exec | Pioneer | Consultant | Author | Speaker & Podcaster | LiveOps | Marketing | Monetization
5 年Completely agree... I suspect beyond mobile the general gaming space will gain too but less as I think they are more susceptible to the wider effects such as Maciej is point out. #InterestingTimes
Founder @ Original Games (Ex-Large Animal Games)
5 年Let’s hope so!
Chief Business Development Officer & Co-Founder at Reality Metaverse
5 年Hi Adam, I am in Beijing, in the mid of all of it.? Yes, mobile gaming increased exponentially because people have nothing to do with being isolated. The revenues for some of the gaming companies increased a lot, but the gaming companies that have not shipped their flagship product or are were just doing okay are now really struggling with paying for salaries but having a much lower productivity. Work from home is not working because companies were not prepared for it. We can see productivity lost in here. While working as business development in China, it is common to know that when sending a question on wechat to other companies, you normally get an almost instant reply. Nowadays? People don't even check their wechat for work although they are 'supposed' to work from home. Far from perfect. Lastly, it is funny that you mentioned sex and many more babies. I read a Chinese article that it actually says that there will be a large spike of divorces. People for the first time in a very long time have to spend time together and.... it is not often as colorful as when while under the spell of honeymoon. I want to give you the last feedback. We worry about viruses and health, but it is impacting finances to the point we are on the brink of a global financial crisis that is much worse than 2008. I am trying not to predict the future, but with simple economics, we might soon have no money to spend on mobile games. That might affect free to play games and subscription models in the long run if the situation continues.?
Quality Manager at Coro | Cybersecurity
5 年Adam Jaffe Great read! ??