Price rise, consoles shift, and AI, Bernstein take on video games industry

June 10, 2025 06:15 AM AEST | By Investing

Google News:

Price rise, consoles shift, and AI, Bernstein take on video games industry — Image source: Kalkine Media

Recent News

Kalkine: ASX200 Spotlight: Space Machines and UTS Launch Australia’s L...

Kalkine: ASX200 Alert: Johns Lyng (ASX:JLG) Sparks Takeover Talk Amid...

Kalkine: Solis Minerals Realigns with ASX in Strategic Shift Toward AS...

Kalkine: Titan Minerals Strikes High-Grade Gold, Expands Potential at...

Investing.com -- The global video gaming industry is entering a new era of pricing power, platform shifts, and AI-driven innovation, with Bernstein forecasting a return to growth in 2025 after a turbulent year.

Industry revenues are projected to rise near 5% to $215 billion next year, following a 2.7% decline in 2024 to $205 billion, according to Bernstein’s deep dive into global gaming trends.

The rebound is expected to be led by the highly anticipated launch of Nintendo’s Switch 2, a renewed push from PlayStation on first-party titles, and modest gains in mobile.

Mobile remained the largest segment in 2024 at $108 billion, while console revenues dropped 15% amid late-cycle dynamics and a lack of new flagship games. PC gaming grew 3.6% to $42.8 billion.

But the headline change is pricing. Nintendo’s $80 price tag for Mario Kart World sparked backlash and then sold out. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) quickly followed with its own hikes.

Bernstein believes $80 games will soon be standard, breaking a decades-long ceiling that failed to keep up with inflation or rising production costs.

“Even at these new prices video gaming remains one of the cheapest forms of entertainment measured on dollars per hour of engagement, in contrast with say… movies or live events.,” Bernstein said.

The firm also flagged a potentially underappreciated industry shift: a U.S. court ruling limiting Apple’s cut of off-platform purchases.

Developers are already experimenting with alternate payment paths, which could reduce mobile store fees and boost margins.

Microsoft’s pivot away from Xbox hardware after years of struggling to gain share outside the U.S. signals a consolidation around Sony (NYSE:SONY) and Nintendo in consoles.

Meanwhile, AI is accelerating development, with generative tools enabling faster asset creation and smarter non-player characters.

Bernstein sees these changes combining to lift revenue, margins, and long-term outlooks across the gaming ecosystem.

This article first appeared in Investing.com

Disclaimer

The content, including but not limited to any articles, news, quotes, information, data, text, reports, ratings, opinions, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (Content) is a service of Kalkine Media Pty Ltd (“Kalkine Media, we or us”), ACN 629 651 672 and is available for personal and non-commercial use only. The principal purpose of the Content is to educate and inform. The Content does not contain or imply any recommendation or opinion intended to influence your financial decisions and must not be relied upon by you as such. Some of the Content on this website may be sponsored/non-sponsored, as applicable, but is NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold the stocks of the company(s) or engage in any investment activity under discussion. Kalkine Media is neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice through this platform. Users should make their own enquiries about any investments and Kalkine Media strongly suggests the users to seek advice from a financial adviser, stockbroker or other professional (including taxation and legal advice), as necessary.
The content published on Kalkine Media also includes feeds sourced from third-party providers. Kalkine does not assert any ownership rights over the content provided by these third-party sources. The inclusion of such feeds on the Website is for informational purposes only. Kalkine does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the content obtained from third-party feeds. Furthermore, Kalkine Media shall not be held liable for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the content obtained from third-party feeds, nor for any damages or losses arising from the use of such content.
Kalkine Media hereby disclaims any and all the liabilities to any user for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising from any use of the Content on this website, which is provided without warranties. The views expressed in the Content by the guests, if any, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kalkine Media. Some of the images/music that may be used on this website are copyrighted to their respective owner(s). Kalkine Media does not claim ownership of any of the pictures displayed/music used on this website unless stated otherwise. The images/music that may be used on this website are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have made reasonable efforts to accredit the source wherever it was indicated as or found to be necessary.
This disclaimer is subject to change without notice. Users are advised to review this disclaimer periodically for any updates or modifications.