Gaming industry makes record sales thanks to coronavirus

It couldn't have been better for the game industry.

Their sales break a groundbreaking record.

• With

  game apps

  1.1 billion euros were traded in the first half of 2020 in Germany.

• Around a third of the players

  played more often than usual

  during the

  Corona crisis *

  .

• A special

  payment method

  turns out to be a gold mine.

While other industries are still

struggling

with the

, the game industry can hardly believe its luck.

were particularly popular in Germany in the first half of 2020.

This is shown for the first time by market data for

, which the association of the German games industry "game" published today in a press release of data from the market research company "App Annie".

According to this, sales of game apps for smartphones and tablets grew by 23 percent compared to the first half of 2019.

A total of 1.1 billion euros were generated in Germany with game apps and in-app purchases.

This was the first time that the one billion euro turnover limit was broken in the first six months of a year.

This is particularly exciting for the gaming industry, because after all, this market segment accounts for around half of the business, ahead of computer and console games.

+

In the first half of 2020, sales in the gaming industry exceeded the one billion euro mark for the first time.

There has also been a strong increase in the segment in recent years.

© game - Association of the German Games Industry

Record sales in the gaming industry: in-app purchases are real bestsellers

A trend of recent years is continuing: Almost all sales with

are made up of so-called

.

These are mainly part of free-to-play games.

Such titles can be downloaded free of charge and played permanently without further payments.

The players can only spend money on additional content, for example to personalize their own character.

The reason for this strong increase is obvious for game managing director Felix Falk: “During the

, many people particularly liked to play with their

, for entertainment, for learning and to stay in contact with family and friends.

Games on smartphones and tablets have long been an integral part of their everyday life for millions of Germans. "

Also read:

Games help people through the coronavirus crisis

In the run-up to this year's

, game had already published representative survey data on the gaming behavior of Germans during the

.

Around a third (35 percent) of the players stated that they had played more than usual during the corona pandemic, and around a quarter (27 percent) played more often than usual with family and friends.

Overall, more than a quarter of gamers said that games helped them get through the pandemic better.

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List of rubric lists: © Philipp Branstädter