After two editions canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Paris Games Week is back from Wednesday at Porte de Versailles.
This annual video game fair, geared towards consumers as the strategic Christmas period approaches, is back in a lighter format with a single exhibition hall instead of three in 2019. “
We have been cautious.
When we decided six months ago to organize the show, we did not know if the restrictions linked to the Covid would return or not.
We had to minimize the financial risk
”, explains Nicolas Vignolles, general delegate of the Syndicate of leisure software publishers (SELL).
That the Paris Games Week returns after three years of absence was not obvious.
“
With the Covid crisis and the shutdown of trade fairs, video game players have learned to communicate differently with their fans.
The question of the relevance of a physical event in 2022 arose
”, recognizes Ina Gelbert, director of Xbox France.
“
But large groups have understood the importance of our show as Christmas approaches.
It also allows them, post-Covid, to reconnect directly with the players
, ”continues Nicolas Vignolles.
This will be the first time that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo will be able to make available to the French public hundreds of test terminals for their PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and Switch Oled consoles, released in 2020 and 2021
. show our consoles, and even more so our Game Pass subscription
,” notes Ina Gilbert.
The Xbox stand will thus be oriented towards this offer, strategic for Microsoft, which allows unlimited play on Xbox console and PC, but also streaming on Samsung smartphones and connected televisions.
"
We must demonstrate to the public the richness of this service
," she continues.
And a controller in hand is often better than a long speech.
Paris Games Week opens its doors at a time when the video game market is subdued.
While the Covid crisis has resulted in dizzying increases in video game purchases in 2020, it has also disrupted the work of development studios.
Many games scheduled for 2022 have therefore had to be postponed to next year.
In addition to this reduced release schedule, there are persistent shortages of new generation consoles.
“
The PlayStation 5 remains a victim of its own success.
We continue to have waiting lists and to sell at a tight flow
” two years after the release of this console, indicates Charlotte Massicault, Gaming Director at Fnac-Darty.
“
The market as a whole is not in the best of dynamics.
Consumers are ready to indulge themselves, but they don't necessarily have the opportunity
”, adds Laurent Bouchard, director of Micromania.
The year 2021 had had a similar profile.
It was reflected in France by a timid growth of 1.6%, to 5.6 billion euros.
Sales of console games had fallen by 6%.
The first signals for 2022 are not positive.
Most of the major market players are announcing declining turnover.
The United States expects a 9% market decline for the year as a whole.
The data for the French market remain confidential.
"
Trends at the end of October do not mean much
," tempers Philippe Lavoué, director of Nintendo France.
“
The heart of the season is ahead of us
”.
But an unknown reigns over this end of the year: will inflation and the purchasing power crisis have an influence on the video game market?
Sony has increased the price of its PlayStation 5 console from 500 to 550 euros, unheard of in this industry.
The price of blockbusters has risen by an average of 10 euros, with a maximum price of 80 euros for certain new products such as the annual
Fifa
and
Call of Duty
sagas .
These price increases have not scared off consumers.
"
At Micromania, these launches are much higher than those of last year
", reveals Laurent Bouchard.
“
Consumers will refocus on safe bets.
Good content will sell
,” adds Philippe Lavoué.
The pre-order volume of the new opus of the
Pokémon
saga , on sale in two weeks, would bode well.
Nintendo, however, keeps a cool head.
"
The years go by and look alike with a succession of crises: the yellow vests, the Covid, the war in Ukraine... Everything is unpredictable, but the industry has always been able to cope.
Video games are a very resilient market.
»
