"Game On" is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.
NEW RELEASES: This week's major new release is Ubisoft's (UBSFY) "Immortals Fenyx Rising," an open world role playing game set to launch December 3 on Xbox One (MSFT), Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 4 (SNE), PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch (NTDOY). Also out this week is "Empire of Sin," a strategy game published by Paradox Interactive (PRXXF) out December 1 for PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch.
NPD CONSUMER DATA: According to a report from NPD Group, video game engagement in the U.S. in 2020 is up "significantly" in terms of participation, time and spend, with four of every five U.S. consumers having played a video game in the past six months. The number of consumers playing video games in the U.S. has increased 6 points to 79%, with total time spent gaming increasing 26% and total spend increasing 33%. This growth is consistent across platforms, with more players overall spending more time and money on the category as consumers have sought greater variety in their at-home entertainment options.
Growth is particularly strong on mobile, which is likely to be the most accessible platform to a wide audience of consumers. Consoles also saw notable increases, driven by families seeking options for group play and by those seeking options for online play. Year-over-year growth for participation, time and money spent on gaming has been significant among less traditional gaming segments as well, notably adults over 45 years of age. Time spent gaming for those between the ages of 45 and 54 saw an increase of 59%, while dollar spend increased 76%. Gamers ages 55 to 64 increased time and money spent by 48% and 73%, respectively; and those 65 and older increased time and money spent on gaming by 45% and 29%, respectively. For many consumers, this increased engagement with games is likely to be part of a general increase in digital activities and device usage - with gamers also reporting increases in their online activities, including social media and streaming platform usage, according to NPD. Although investment in the gaming category is up, overall time/money spent on other forms of entertainment for this audience is generally down. This is driven, for the most part, by COVID-19 restrictions, which have significantly impacted access to key categories like live events and dining out.
PS5 LAUNCH: The launch of Sony's latest console PlayStation 5 in November exceeded the U.K.'s previous record holder, 2013's PS4, which sold roughly 250,000 units in its first 48 hours, VGC's Andy Robinson reported earlier this week, citing publishing sources. The news means PS5 "significantly" outsold Microsoft's Xbox Series X and S in the region, with VGC previously reporting that the Microsoft systems sold roughly 155,000 on their first day. Robinson noted that the sales figures come with certain caveats, namely that due to significant supply constraints for the new consoles, they would likely have sold even better if more stock were available.
Commenting on the report earlier today, NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said that the only story launch sales in any given territory tells when in a constrained inventory environment is how many units a manufacturer decided to ship. "There is no correlation between launch sales and lifetime sales or ultimate sales ranking," Piscatella said.
OTHER STORIES TO WATCH:
acquired by MSFT
-0.41 (-0.52%)
Take-Two
-2.79 (-1.55%)
Electronic Arts
-1.31 (-1.03%)
Microsoft
+0.29 (+0.14%)
Symbol now SONY
+0.97 (+1.04%)
Nintendo
+ (+0.00%)
Paradox Interactive
+ (+0.00%)
Alphabet
+48.53 (+2.76%)
Alphabet
+44.09 (+2.51%)
GameStop
-0.17 (-1.03%)
Tencent
+ (+0.00%)
Ubisoft
+ (+0.00%)