Home » Video game boom in Italy. In the year of the lockdown, turnover amounted to 2.17 billion

Video game boom in Italy. In the year of the lockdown, turnover amounted to 2.17 billion

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It was foreseeable that lockdwn would push video game turnover up but not at this rate. 2020 was an extraordinary year for the sector which exceeded two billion euros for the first time with a growth of 21.9% compared to 2019. However, gamers remained essentially the same with 16.7 million people have experimented with video games throughout the year. So the players played more. Much more, almost half an hour on average more.

This is what emerges from the new annual report on the video game market in Italy presented by IIDEA (the trade association that brings together the players in this industry). But let’s see the numbers in detail.

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Digital and smartphone gaming wins over

Sales on the software front (video games) were still the driving force with a turnover of 1.7 billion euros and a growth of 24.8% compared to 2019. In particular, the digital segment, including digital downloads on consoles and PCs and apps, it recorded the largest expansion, going from 602 million euros the previous year to 799 million euros in 2020. Thanks to the good performance of the next gen consoles – the new PS5 and Xbox Series released in November 2020 – and Nintendo Switch, the sector generated a turnover of 395 million euros with a growth trend of 6.9%. On the platform side, the mobile trend is confirmed. Smartphones and tablets are the most popular, with over 10.6 million Italian gamers using them, including 5.2 million women. Followed by PCs with 7.2 million people and home consoles with 6.7 million.

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Fifa wins again this year

No surprises for the best-selling game. The aggregate ranking (all platforms, physical and digital) is led by Fifa 21, followed by Grand Theft Auto V and FIFA 20, the same podium in the Top 10 of video games on consoles. The best-selling genres in 2020 were Action, Sports Games and Adventure. Interesting is the third place of the Strategy genre in the Top 10 relating solely to the best-selling video games on PC.

The pandemic and game time

During 2020 the Italians have dedicated in the mediumto 8 hours a week a play on all devices, over half an hour more than the previous survey. There was an increase in the time dedicated to all platforms, with the exception of the older consoles – such as PS3 and Xbox360 – and smartphones which recorded a slight decrease compared to 2019. The analysis of the data collected showed that in 2020 the time Play peaked during periods of lockdowns or tightening of restrictions, with a year-over-year increase of approximately one hour more play per week during the first and second waves. Furthermore, the analysis revealed how online multiplayer video games played a supporting role for gamers during the restrictions caused by the pandemic: 50% used them to stay in touch with friends, 48% to feel less isolated, 39% as a tool to feel less anxious – and over a third of them (36%) said that video games helped them feel happy. Furthermore, in the family context, 19% of the interviewees declared that they had played video games with their children, since it rises to 22% among those with children in the 6-10 age group and 20% in the 11-15 age group. In addition, 19% of parents said they used educational video games to support their learning – this rises to 29% of those with primary school-age children.

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