Games + Puzzles continue success story
After a small respite in 2022, Games + Puzzles continued its ten years of disproportionately strong growth with an accumulated increase of 10% to the end of August 2023. The main drivers here are games, which grew by 6%, and the Strategic Trading Cards segment, which, spurred by the ongoing Pokémon trend, posted a year-on-year increase of over 45%. Parlor games, board games, card games, and puzzles are thus turning out to be an attractive cross-generational leisure activity, which was an important anchor for people not only in the past crisis years.
Good annual performance in Germany, despite the current economic situation
The good annual performance of games & puzzles so far is also indirectly confirmed by the latest survey of the German Association of the Toy Industry (DVSI) on the socio-cultural relevance of gaming. For almost ¾ of the respondents, playing is "social cement". 92 percent of respondents therefore see anchoring the "Value of Play" in public discourse as a primordial human phenomenon as an important or very important goal for strengthening the social relevance of games.
Value of Play
Despite the general economic weakness - experts expect growth of around 1.3% in 2024 - games and puzzles were able to escape the economic downturn. This shows once again that games are not only to be evaluated under economic and business categories, but also have a value in themselves (Value of Play). This is underlined by the current DVSI survey. 73% of the respondents stated that, in general, playing games is of central importance for social interaction and the development of a sense of community.
Positive trend abroad
Since 2014, the games market has also developed in many other countries, significantly. Sales of games and puzzles almost doubled. The range of games was significantly expanded and internationalized in various segments. Many startup publishers emerged, while crowdfunding platforms added new sales channels. But the online market also contributed to a great broadening of the market. In addition, games and puzzles are popular items in the range of stores and retailers outside the toy trade.Traditional toy retailers are also increasingly focusing on games and puzzles, which are now the strongest product group there. With the "Hoher Spielwert" initiative, around 36 game stores have joined forces with 48 toy stores to form a network to bring good games to the people.Traditional specialty retailers are also experiencing increased foot traffic in their stores again and are offering on-site events to give customers opportunities to get to know games. During the store closures in the Corona era, online retailers achieved large increases. Currently, sales at large online stores tend to decline.
“Kidults” as an important factor
In addition to the classic family and children's game segment, the number of casual gamers has increased significantly, also due to positive experiences in the Corona era. While families spend time together, casual gamers are increasingly playing in groups with friends. This is especially true of "kidults," the 14-35 age group.Party games and/or mystery and puzzle games continue to be the trend here.High quality demands are made by the group of board game fans, who love challenging, tactical or strategic games with large features.
Importance of the Christmas business
Game publishers expect a positive development for the now upcoming Christmas business, which accounts for around 40% of annual sales in the toy trade. "Games are an ideal gift for all generations and offer a high value for shared togetherness. Especially when people are more at home again, games and puzzles provide a lot of joy " says Hermann Hutter, 1st Chairman of Spieleverlage e.V. and owner of the publishing house Huch! & friends. The trade also expects a renewed increase in the desire to buy. "Wages have risen significantly," Hutter continues, "which should brighten consumer sentiment."
Source: PR Spieleverlage e.V.