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Vodacixi on 21 April 2020
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Pyro as Bill said:
Vodacixi said:
You guys are not taking into account the fact that the COVID-19 is gonna have a huge impact in the economy of many countries. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) forsees consequences of a magnitude not seen since the last international crisis (the great recession of the late 2000s). In fact, it could easily be even worse than that. Some people are claiming it will be similar to the 1929 crash (although that seems a little far fetched to me...). Many people are gonna lose their jobs, prices of necessary goods are gonna increase and in general, people will have less money to spend in unnecesary things like videogames.

Now the Switch (and the videogame market in general) is doing great because the consequences are still to be felt and being always at home, entertainment products are in a rise. But when everything is set and done... I think sales are gonna take a noticeable hit.

A bad economy isn't necessarily bad for Nintendo. If the demographic that buys consoles isn't going to the pub/bars/clubs like now then Nintendo games are probably the best and cheapest $/hr form of entertainment.

I wouldn't want to be releasing a new expensive console any time this year though.

Right now they don't go to restaurants and bars because they are not opened.

When the quarantine is over, they won't go to bars and restaurants because they won't have a job or they will have a worse job than before and/or many essential goods will most likely increase their prices. Under these circumstances, videogames will not be a priority for many people that will struggle to even arrive to the end of the month. 

While right now we are kinda feeling some of the economical effects of the COVID-19, to the average Jill or Joe is just numbers on the TV screen. The actual slap in the face will come when we can go outside again and many bussiness and companies will start firing people, among other damaging effects. And I assure you that the videogame industry will feel the hit. Not anything catastrophic mind you, but overall sales (especially in Europe and America) will definitely decrease. 

Also, remember than while the Switch has a strong young/adult demographics, it's still very popular among kids. I wonder if there will be a couple of families that will struggle to buy their child a 300 dolar videogame console... 

And yes, PS5 and Series X will be even more vulnerble to the situation given their high price.