Companies like Epic Games or Activision Blizzard They are seeing the number of online players grow exponentially in their Fortnite or Call of Duty: Warzone video games. The massive wave of players in these difficult times is causing the video game industry to break all kinds of records.
In the case of Call of Duty: Warzone, more than 15 million players They have downloaded it in just 4 days since its launch on March 10. A figure that by now will have risen considerably. For its part, to have a comparison, games like Apex Legends received "only" 2 million downloads (free) during their first day of availability in February 2019.
Italy, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, has seen how the number of Fortnite players has grown so much that the country's telecommunications systems have collapsed. according to bloomberg.
The platform Valve on Steam saw as a total of 20 million users They were playing simultaneously on March 15, just between the days when the virus began to spread more in the United States. This was a record for the company, a month after they reached 19 million players playing at the same time.
So many players are buying games and playing their favorite titles online that the shares of the gaming industry are rising like foam, while the rest of companies in other sectors are seeing their shares go down and down incessantly.
To all this we must also add that schools, institutes and universities around the planet are closing their doors. All students are homebound, and we know that younger audiences are more likely to play video games for entertainment.
Piper Sandler's analyst Michael Olson mentioned the following in a recently written analysis:
"We believe that video games will be a very popular option as mandates on social distance continue to apply around the world and people seek entertainment to stay at home."
Server saturations and revenue from the video game industry
Analysts believe that the number of digital downloads and micro-transaction revenues will continue to increase as this global quarantine continues.
And remember that all sports leagues have been suspended, so sports lovers also join the video game scene with virtual video game tournaments like FIFA or NBA 2K.
But, without a doubt, the game that has benefited most from this unfortunate and chaotic situation has been Fortnite. The coronavirus expansion caught the game in a golden moment, making it the most popular title in the world today.
Phil Spencer, head of Xbox at Microsoft, posted a tweet in mid-March confirming that the company was seeing a huge increase in the use of its video game platform:
Yea, usage is up on almost everything. Thanks go out to all the Ops / IT teams at all the companies that are working hard to keep everything running smoothly with all going on around them.
– Phil Spencer (@ XboxP3) March 15, 2020
«Yes, the use is very high practically in everything. Thanks to all the team operators from all the companies who are working hard to make everything run smoothly. ”
Home confinement and the saturation of servers by gamers have caused some companies, such as Sony with PlayStation, to temporarily disconnect their systems. Discord also had problems and Twitch also found itself with some other obstacle due to the massive avalanche of users.
Industry stocks have not fallen so dramatically
Analysts believe that the video game industry will have a very solid performance throughout this year 2020. In addition, it must be remembered that the COVID-19 pandemic will not last forever, the time will come when all these social and financial problems will cease, and companies will return with force to present their new game consoles so that we, the players, can continue feeling the same passion for video games.