Gaming booms among the COVID gloom

DUBAI: The coronavirus pandemic has changed consumer habits worldwide, resulting in new trends. Gaming is one such trend that has increased by leaps and bounds, according to a new report by global intelligence platform and consulting service GfK.

This has resulted in increased purchases of devices such as gaming consoles, gaming monitors and gaming PCs as people explore socially distant ways to keep themselves occupied and entertained.

Significant upgrades to dedicated gaming PCs have fueled whopping growth of 60 percent and a 15 percent value share within total notebook PCs.

Gaming consoles have also returned to growth (2 percent) even as consumers await the launch of the new PS5 and Xbox Series-X.

According to the GfK Consumer Pulse survey, 46 percent of respondents in Saudi Arabia dedicated more of their leisure time to gaming than usual during the lockdown.

The Middle East, Africa and Turkey saw year-on-year growth of 77 percent, making the region the world’s second-fastest-growing PC gaming market.

As lockdowns ease, many product and service categories that grew during this period are beginning to see reduced sales.

But the growth in gaming continues, with sales of devices such as gaming monitors growing by 155 percent while regular monitors decline by 22 percent. A similar trend can be seen across products such as notebooks, headsets and peripherals.

This suggests an increase in the number of gamers in the Middle East during the pandemic, as enthusiastic youngsters are joined by older users who are rediscovering casual gaming or experiencing it for the first time.

According to the GfK survey, 20 percent of consumers in Saudi Arabia bought a gaming device after the lockdown period, and 19 percent of these purchases were unplanned.

Online platforms play a critical role in driving sales of gaming devices in the Middle East, as making a purchase online is both easy and sometimes economical.