Summary
- Gaming stocks plummet, impacting giants like Nintendo and Sega, signaling industry-wide decline.
- Companies like Square Enix and Bungie realign strategies to combat losses in tumultuous market.
- Dr. Serkan Toto warns of continued stock market chaos, with investors panicking in global downturn.
Reports highlight a drop in stocks for several different video game companies, including Nintendo. This may not be surprising to those who have kept their fingers on the pulse of gaming over the last two years. Companies with some of the strongest legacies in gaming, such as Bungie, have faced massive losses, and publications like Game Informer have closed following GameStop's lackluster sales. Although Nintendo is likely to recover, as it has a stockpile of money to offset losses, many other companies may face issues.
The industry has been in an uncomfortable state for many of its workers for a long time now. Companies like Square Enix have completely readjusted in order to accommodate the losses it has been facing, deciding to focus more intensely on a multiplatform market, instead of its traditional exclusivity. Sega has decided to chase the idea of a "super game" in order to generate more revenue, but it will be some time before gamers see that concept succeed or fail.
Bungie Still Hiring After Mass Layoffs
After a round of layoffs that left a huge number of game developers without employment, Bungie is apparently still hiring for other roles.
Throughout the last 24 hours at the time of writing, stocks have tanked for several companies, including Nintendo, Sega, Capcom, Koei Techmo, Square Enix, and Sony. Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, an industry consultant, describes the state of the stock market as "a bloodbath," saying that investors are panicking. Toto follows up, saying that this is a global stock market issue, but that it's hit Japan quite hard, as the national index was down by 10%.
Some people interested in investing asked about whether now might be a good entry point based on the opening this creates. Toto states that, at least for Nintendo, he's unsure, because he expects the following months to be "very subdued" for the company. This is the likely case, as most Nintendo fans are waiting for some word on the successor to the Switch, and most of the company's upcoming games don't seem to match the scale of its biggest hits, like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom.
Stocks Drop For Gaming Giants
As for the other companies impacted here, this could be a problem related to their releases, a gaming industry issue, or more likely - both. Layoffs in the industry have been rampant in the past two years, and Bungie's aggressive layoffs are just one of plenty examples. Gaming and its adjacent industries appear to be following a decline. Some of this pressure is just an unfortunate reflection of what's going on with the economy at the moment. Other aspects might be a little more structured, as Nintendo is likely to recover from any of its losses the moment its next console is announced. Although the impact may vary per company, this downward trend may last for a while.
- Brand
- Nintendo