"The gaming industry will shrink in 2022 but will grow next year"
According to Assaf Vaknin, Industry Head, Export, Apps, at Google Israel, the reason for the expected 6% contraction of the industry is that "the external environment has changed”
"Last year the pandemic was present, but as far as the gaming industry was concerned, it was a year of explosion in every parameter," said Assaf Vakanin, Industry Head, Export, Apps, at Google Israel, speaking at the Calcalist gaming conference in partnership with Google and Playtika. "To our delight, Israel and the world are back to normal. But we quickly learned that this is a new normal, of rising inflation and interest rates, and a war in Europe. All these changes affected the gaming industry. According to the research company Newzoo, the industry is expected to shrink by 6% in 2022, for the first time since Newzo started measuring it."
According to Vaknin: "In the gaming industry, we look at three main parameters: total expenses, the duration of the game and the amount of downloads. So, the amount of game downloads increased. The duration of the game remained the same. People cite enjoyment, escape and relaxation as the main reasons. It's only natural. After all, playing is part of human nature. So what's changed? The external environment. In an era where some consumers are in financial instability, people tend to cut back on non-obligatory expenses, luxuries like gaming. So even though downloads went up and the duration stayed the same, the whole pie shrunk.
"But on the positive side, the industry is expected to grow next year and the market should reach $117 billion within five years. And what does this mean for the Israeli industry? We are a global gaming center. Beyond the veteran players in the market, investors still trust the industry, and the Israeli industry in particular. In the last two years, we have seen a significant change in the way gaming companies present themselves."
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Vaknin further stated that "Google has a variety of products designed for companies to build new games, such as Android, Google Cloud and Google Ads. The commitment does not end with the products. We have houses of experts for the industry. I want to end my remarks with a new and exciting project. Google is definitely committed to the high-tech industry. But this year we took it one step further. We decided to invest $25 million to encourage diversity in the high-tech industry in Israel. Moreover, together with Reichman University, we established the School of Tech Professions. And we plan to nurture the talents of the gaming professions in particular. Given the importance of the gaming sector, the school will have specializations in product management, marketing, game economics - to make sure that the students can integrate into the industry upon graduation.
"We are collaborating with Playtika, which will make sure that the content will be relevant and of high quality. We have another variety of courses that are relevant to the industry. You can take part in a specific course and also recruit talented graduates that we and Reichman University mark as the future of the industry."
