Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson has responded to recession fears, saying video games aren’t necessarily recession-proof, but the medium may be better suited to remain prosperous during a time of economic downturn than other industries. During EA’s latest earnings briefing, Wilson said video games are “more resilient” than other businesses in part because he believes humans simply need entertainment and are less willy to cut back spending due to that.
“Entertainment is a fundamental human need. It’s very important to us as a species,” he said.
Wilson also said he believes video games offer “incredible value” relative to other forms of entertainment, which is important during a time of “constrained spending.”
Wilson said there has been “a little more softness” in certain places around the world, including Europe, but globally, he pointed out that EA is experiencing growth.
Despite rising grocery and gas prices, in addition to inflation, the video game industry has indeed remained resilient and is even growing. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said spending on video games in the US has grown by 2% in 2023, rising to $34.1 billion thus far in the year. Spending was higher year-to-date in 2021 due in part to the pandemic and stay-at-home orders that kept people in their homes and spending money on entertainment like games.
It has been one of the best years for new video games, perhaps ever.
US video game content spending has grown 2% year-to-date compared to a year ago, at $34.1 billion.
This compares to US content spending in past years of:
YTD 2020 – $33.8B
YTD 2021 – $36.6B
YTD 2022 – $33.5B— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) October 30, 2023
2023 has been a huge year for big game releases, and Hogwarts Legacy remains the No. 1 best-selling game overall so far this year in the US. Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III launches on November 10 and could eclipse it, though.
For EA specifically, the company just reported that one of its biggest 2023 games, Madden NFL 24, experienced year-over-year growth in revenue compared to Madden NFL 23. EA earned a profit of $399 million for the past three months and a profit of $993 million for the trailing 12 months.
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