The pandemic and the associated lockdowns that ensued had more people than ever playing games but it appears that the world opening up and a recession are bad news for video game makers.

This is according to a report from CNBC citing data from Ampere Analysis which anticipates a contraction in video game sales this year.

To be frank, the fall is only expected to be 1.2 percent year on year but following 26 percent growth from 2019 to 2021, this drop off is notable.

“After two years of huge expansion, the games market is poised to hand back a bit of that growth in 2022 as multiple factors combine to undermine performance,” Piers Harding-Rolls, research director at Ampere Analysis told CNBC.

Those factors include the fact that the latest generation of consoles have been hard to come by thanks to logistical woes, component shortages and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The pandemic also lead to a raft of game delays with many high-profile titles being pushed out to later in 2022 or even 2023.

With that in mind, Ampere is anticipating that by 2023, the video game market will grow once more with sales expected to hit $195 billion up from this year’s estimated $188 billion.

We are curious to see how – or rather if – this affects publishers and how they respond.

[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]