Our meeting Video game with Brice N’Guessan, Editorial Director of Video game magazine. 2022 is fast approaching, it’s time to take stock of last year.

franceinfo: First observation, in 2021, has the player population continued to grow?

Brice N’Guessan: Yes, the French are playing more and more. We have never counted so many players, as 73% of the French population plays video games, and this affects men, women and all age groups.

For example, there are 7 million players over the age of 60. It must be said that the offer is extensive, both in games and in gaming machines: consoles, PC, smartphones, tablets or even TV box.

Precisely at the level of machines, like other industries, 2021 was marked by shortages …

The video game has not cut it, and its main victims: the new generation consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. A year after its launch, it is still difficult to get hold of one of these consoles for 500 euros. Two reasons.

First, a never-so-strong demand for new machines, and second, the health crisis that has interrupted the supply of components to make these consoles.

However, there is one that does not know the crisis, it is Nintendo that struts at the head of game sales and that has sold in the world, in 2021, more Switch consoles than the new PlayStation and Xbox combined. Main reasons, a cheaper console, but especially more family games that attract a wider audience.

Nintendo that shows that we can seduce a very wide audience, a fact that has not escaped other digital and entertainment giants?

In fact, the Netflix platform, which until then was limited to broadcasting series, movies and documentaries, launched its Netflix Games service. Approximately ten games available on smartphones and tablets for all subscribers.

Another digital giant, Amazon, which after years of wandering in video game development successfully launched the adventure game for the PC. The new World. Now you have to confirm over time, because it is difficult for new entrants to find a place, regardless of the money you have. Google, which launched its Stadia gaming service two years ago, is still struggling to convince.

There is one thing that seems to win over gamers, and it’s the subscription games that Xbox made popular with Xbox Game Pass.

Paying 10 euros to access almost 400 games, and in particular the latest innovations of the brand, is what Xbox offers. Pay less to play more, a formula that has attracted more than 18 million players around the world. Rumor has it that PlayStation is looking into the matter to come up with such an interesting offering. In short, subscription gaming, we should hear it in 2022.