Iidea, the association it represents the video game industry in Italycommunicated the data on the consumption of this type of entertainment in our country for the year 2021.
After a 2020 that saw long lockdown periods and an increase in + 21.9% compared to 2019, the sector continues to grow, with a turnover of 2 billion and 243 million euros, a good + 2.9% compared to the previous survey. This is the comment of Marco Saletta, president of Iidea and general manager of Sony Interactive Entertainment Italia: “We can say that the consumption of video games in Italy is stabilizing. After the records of a particular year like 2020, it seems that Italians have accepted videogames not only how widely used form of entertainmentbut also as a medium that can convey culture and facilitate forms of socialization “.
A slight decrease concerns the number of gamers, which goes from 16.7 million in 2020 to the current 15.5 million; 35% of the Italian population aged 6 to 64 has spent on average 8.7 hours a week in the company of video gamesparticularly on consoles, with an increase of more than half an hour compared to the previous analysis.
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Also in 2021 the turnover is driven by software: the sale of video games is confirmed as the strongest segment of the market with a value of 1.8 billion euros, thanks to the excellent performance of digital and gaming apps.
In Top 20 aggregate, which adds up the best-selling titles on all platforms, both in physical and digital format, in the first places we find a great classic for the Italian market, that is Fifa 22; they follow the evergreen Grand Theft Auto V e Fifa 21. Curiously, the ranking looks like a photocopy (partially updated) of that of 2020, which saw in the first places Fifa 2021, GTA V e Fifa 2020.
Among the most loved and sold videogame genres, in first place on consoles we find the action video games, they follow sport games and role-playing games; strategy, action and adventure lead the Top 10 for best-selling computer games. Also with regard to genres, Italian gamers turn out to be rather conservative and their tastes change very little from year to year, except for a growing interest in role-playing video games.
Particular attention is paid to the audience of the little ones: 73.4% of the video games released on the Italian market and 65.8% of the games sold in Italy in 2021 are suitable for an aged between 3 and 12, i.e. Pegi 3, 7 and 12.
On the hardware front there was a great demand for next generation consolea growth driven above all by + 21.6% of the Nintendo Switch, while the entire sector, which includes consoles and accessories, developed a turnover of 443 million euros with a growth of 12.1%.
One year after the debut of the new generation consoles, PlayStation 5 e Xbox X ed S, the semiconductor crisis still weighs on the hardware market, as Saletta recalled: “Up to now we have not found a solution, but it is a generalized problem that is impacting many sectors. Think about what it has meant for the auto market. The moment of rupture caused by the coronavirus he has not yet returned and this is true for consoles, computers and, to a slightly lesser extent, also for telephony ”.
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Who are the Italian gamers
As mentioned, in 2021 the number of gamers decreased slightly: they are 15.5 million people who use video games as a form of entertainment during the year, about 35% of the population, of which 56% men and 44% women. The age groups in which video games are played the most are those between 15-24 years and 45-64 years, which respectively register 3.7 million gamers within them.
The time dedicated to video games continues to grow from year to year, showing greater involvement: in the course of 2021 an average of 8.7 hours per week was dedicated to video games on all devices, with a significant increase in the time devoted above all to console gaming. Instead, the time devoted to gaming on smartphones and tablets is decreasing, slightly decreasing on 2020, even if these devices are the platforms most used by users, with 9 million gamers, of which 4.2 million are women.
For information, 34% of Italian gamers prefer to talk to relatives and friends, 24% obtain news from generalist press sites and 12% by specialized ones; TV informs 24% of users and social media 22%. The favorite social platforms to talk about video games are WhatsApp and Facebook, chosen by 20% of the interviewees, followed by 14% by YouTube.
According to Saletta, “in the future we will see a widening of community: the phenomenon of socialization within a video game, or around a video game, is particularly important and significant. Already large communities continue to grow, just think of titles like Minecraft, which still attract new people every day. Collaborating players in an extraordinary way. People like to be together, confront and play. Socialization through video games is the most significant phenomenon of recent years “.
The data contained in the report has been processed as part of the permanent observatory on the sector promoted by the European federation of the video game industry Isfe (the acronym stands for Interactive software Federation of Europe), of which Iidea is a member.