More technology companies want to get into the video game business.
Just within the past week Netflix, Peloton, Zoom and Amazon have added games to their business plans.
The potential promise of video games makes the medium attractive. The global video games market, estimated at $177.8 billion in 2020, is expected to surpass $200 billion by 2023, forecasts Tom Wijman at research firm Newzoo.
But there’s no guarantee these big names will succeed. Several big failures such as 3DO and N-Gage dot the industry’s timeline and even companies with a history of video games such as Atari, Nintendo, Sega and Sony have had setbacks.
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Look no farther than Amazon to see the challenges. The tech and online retailing giant has been expanding into video games for several years, including its nearly $1 billion purchase of Twitch, which grew as a video game-centric streaming platform.
But Amazon has canceled or killed several games since starting up its own studio seven years ago. Its newest game “New World,” is due out at the end of August and player testing has begun.
Peloton is developing a rhythm-based game called “Lanebreak” for its Bike and Bike+ models, due this winter. “Even in early testing, we’ve found that folks who previously would have not used Peloton are interested in this direction and it would make them…
