And now, with the end of the Corona epidemic, these platforms have started to experience a decline and stagnation in the number of their users, with the saturation that the market is witnessing due to the increase in the number of providers of these services, in addition to the inability of the content offered by these platforms to attract new subscribers, at prices that ensure significant growth.
The results of the “Disney+” service during the first quarter of 2023 showed that it had lost around 4 million subscribers in three months, pushing the number of its subscribers from 161.8 million to 157.8 million subscribers , on the other hand, “Netflix” added, over the same period, about 1.75 million users, bringing its subscriber count to 232.5 million subscribers, but this growth in the number of users ” Netflix” remains insufficient.
Plan to reduce costs
The two aforementioned platforms had announced their intention to cut content spending and cut thousands of jobs, as this was accompanied by an increase in the prices of certain services, which indicates that they are ruling out the return of the growth that the media industry has witnessed during the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Transformation of broadcast platforms
Raising prices and cutting costs isn’t a big growth strategy for companies, which means TV broadcast platforms will have to look for a new growth story, as it looks like video games will be the title of the next conflict. between broadcast platforms, which move from the stage of the war of the film to the stage of the war of the game.
The size of the video game market is $235 billion.
Asim Jalal, an administrative science and information technology consultant at G&K, said in an interview with “Sky News Arabia Economy” that platforms such as “Netflix” and “Disney+” are looking for a new category of users. and believe that there are financial opportunities being lost, especially in the gaming industry. small share of this market will be enough to increase the volume of income it achieves.
Expected revenues of $321 billion in 2026
According to Jalal, all digital delivery platforms are trying to compensate for the expected stagnation in the visual content market by entering new areas, indicating that when companies plan to expand, they seek to determine where the user spends his time, what is the size of the budget that he spends, and tries to acquire a share of the size of this expenditure, and from this it can be understood that the direction of the broadcasting platforms towards the world of video games comes after knowing that there is a group of users who spend their time there, especially since expectations indicate that the expected revenue volume of the video game industry will reach approximately $321 billion per year in 2026.
Jalal asserts that it is smart for digital broadcasting platforms not to think in a traditional way and look at every user’s entertainment time, and try to attract them with their new services, pointing out that this philosophy, we see in different areas.
Platforms are looking for an additional element of success
Technology analyst Rayan Mortada said in an interview with Sky News Arabia Economy that the past few years have seen the pumping of tens of billions of dollars of investment into the entertainment content and streaming services industry. live through television broadcasting platforms, as everyone wanted. to be part of this transformation. However, with this market reaching the maximum it can reach in terms of subscriber numbers, these platforms are forced to seek an additional element of success, indicating that video games are the ideal choice for these platforms, due to several considerations, including ease of transition to game presentation and player count.
More than a billion users of electronic games
Mortada explains that when a platform such as “Disney +” decides to provide video games, this business will be easy for him, because he already provides content related to video and television, and all that he has to do is to establish partnerships with companies producing games. , or even create your own games to offer them. Through the platform, recalling that the video game industry has a very large audience, since the number of players in China will only reach 760 million people in 2023, while the number will exceed one billion people worldwide, and so these numbers show the amount of revenue expected from this market.
Hidden code in the game service “Netflix”
According to Mourtada, “Netflix” has already started preparing to provide video game service through TVs, and this was revealed by a software developer who discovered that there is a hidden code inside the “Netflix” application that refers to the video game service, in addition to a code that allows phones to be used as control units.In video games on television, recalling that the video game service, of which we are talking currently, is different from the games service provided by “Netflix” since 2021 on phones, which requires downloading games from the App Store and Google Play, where we are currently talking about downloadable games from the Netflix app.
Mortada claims that the entry of “Netflix” and “Disney +” platforms and others into the world of video games will cause a leap forward in this industry, which generates billions of dollars in annual revenue, because these platforms will trying to secure their share of this market which will experience record levels of growth.
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