News Mash-Up: Week 17 2021

Summary

A quiet start to 2021 for new game releases is not cause for alarm, according to Sparkers' Week 17 news roundup covering European physical and digital sales through the first 16 weeks of the year. The central argument is that strong back-catalogue demand is offsetting a thin release schedule, even as the pandemic's effects on development timelines remain hard to isolate from normal scheduling cycles.

European GSD tracking shows new physical full-game releases fell 3% year on year, compared with declines of 16% in 2020 and 3% in 2019. Unit sell-through of new titles dropped 27% versus 2020, following a 34% fall the prior year, reflecting a weaker blockbuster slate. Total physical full-game units were down 5% against 2020 and 7% against 2019, but 9% above 2018. Combining physical and network sales, units declined 13% from the pandemic-driven 2020 spike yet stood 12% above 2019 and 25% above 2018, equating to roughly 4 million and 7 million additional units respectively. Strong console launches, continued Switch sales, and limited out-of-home entertainment are cited as drivers of older-title spending.

The news section highlights industry developments. GDC's State of the Industry survey, drawing on up to four thousand developers, showed an even split on Covid's effect on development cycles, with over half working on PC titles. Investgame.net reported $25B in Q1 2021 gaming investment, up 150% year on year. The IOC announced an Olympic Virtual Series running 13 May to 23 June with five publisher events. Microsoft's Xbox revenue rose 50% to $3.5B, and its PC store commission will fall from 30% to 12% from 1 August. Sony's PlayStation revenue grew by a third to $25B, with digital sales up 44% and nearly 8 million PS5 units shipped. AMD posted $3.5B in quarterly revenue, up 91%. Other items include FIFA 21 joining EA Play and Game Pass and a Take-Two and Google storage initiative called Open Saves. The week's releases were led by Resident Evil Village, alongside Dragon Quest Builders 2 on Xbox One, Wreckfest on PS5, and Skate City.