Computer game war
A new technology war is broken out between several companies on computer games. For many years, only Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have been developed game devices a but now there are others: Google and Samsung. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is entering the computer game market with a new game device to be released soon and Samsung already have a new game device ready to be sold this year.
Computer game is a highly profitable industry and it is growing fast. A Wall Street analysts explained: “Few people understand the potential of this market but it is very big. Today computer game industry is more popular than the film industry with 1.8 billion people play computer games all over the world. Computer games companies are more profitable than Hollywood because they do not have to pay movie stars a lot of money. The heroes of computer game are mostly unknown software developers and game designers. Many are making several million dollars for each game they created and game company stocks are highly valuable in the New York Stock market. Computer game is the leading entertainment for people around the world as more people are playing games than go to the movies or watch TV. Since 2000, the game industry has grown from $14 Billion to $60 Billion worldwide. It is estimated that it will reach $100 Billion by 2020 and will be the biggest entertainment industry in the world. (Note: the movies industry is worth $27 billion, the music industry is worth $40 billion, the book industry is worth $63 billion – Wall Street Data 2013).
The news that Google and Samsung entering the market comes as a surprise to the big three (Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo) as they are competing in this lucrative market, each with its own new device. Microsoft has announced its new Xbox One to be sold in the next few months with a lot of new games to please all types of gamer players. Sony is readied to offer more features in the new upcoming Play Station that also have many people believed to be the best device ever built. Nintendo who is focusing on games for family will integrate its Wii U with tablet computers into a game and entertainment systems for all families. Google is not a newcomer as it already controls many mobile games on its android smartphone. The news that it is developed new game devices will be changed the game market significantly as it already have many games to play on tablets using android platform. Google Android's open system has provided ways for many developers to create their own games to be sold on Google apps stores.
A Wall Street analyst comments: “Game device is only half of the battle. It is the number of computer games and how good they are will determine who will be the winner in this market. Today there are only few companies develop computer games and the number of software developers specialize in game development is still small but as these big companies are getting into a major war, more game developers will be needed. Few years ago, only the U.S., Japan, and S. Korea dominate the game industry but as the computer game war is broken out, more countries will join in to develop games and the market will change fast. However, with the current shortage of computer workers, the question is where do they get more game developers to fill this needs?
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
