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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1509247
Game Screen People like their games almost as much as their movies/shows By Andy Marken Okay, which came first … the movie or the game. With the string of major projects that have hit the screen this year all focused on propping up a crippled theater industry and streamers loading up on projects to keep people connected to their services it’s obvious to creators/shooters it’s the movie. If you’re Microsoft that’s trying to convince governments that their $69B purchase of Activision Blizzard or Sony that’s buying up everything that WBD’s Zaslav has to offer, it’s the game. Yeah, it was the game hands down. Go, probably the world’s oldest board game, originated in China some 4,000 years ago; is both simple and complex to play; has more than 50M casual/professional players around the world (most in East Asia); and talk about binging, professional games often exceed 16 hours. It just doesn’t have the aura of chess that helped The Queen’s Gambit, Critical Thinking and other shows/movies attract so much attention. While movies/shows racked up an impressive $95B last year, the video game industry brought in an eye-watering $236B. Not only is the money good but more than 3B people – of all ages – play video games even though only 10 percent of them consider themselves gamers. No wonder Netflix has quietly amassed a library of 60, including some noteworthy exclusives and Apple keeps adding titles to its Arcade. Despite the global interest/demand in video game play, it’s not an easy business to get into and stay on top of. Back a few years ago on his first tour as boss of Disney, Bob Iger moved the company from being a title publisher to a licensing model. During an earnings call he said