DALLAS — Bailouts, bankruptcies, liquidations and layoffs have been the business buzzwords over the past few months, but the video-game industry remains stubbornly resistant to the gloom enveloping the rest of the economy.
While game industry executives and analysts aren’t ignoring the broader economic trends, all the evidence seems to point to a robust holiday season for game makers and sellers and continued prosperity next year.
Part of the explanation for video games’ continuing popularity, game insiders say, is the “nesting” effect, in which cash-strapped consumers stop going out and look for ways to entertain themselves at home.
“Clearly, interactive entertainment is a great value in a down economy,” said Dan DeMatteo, chief executive at Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop Corp.
The numbers seem to bear that out. In October, video-game sales jumped 18 percent, according to market-research firm NPD Group.
November has been solid too as GameStop said in its quarterly earnings conference call this month that initial signs for the fourth quarter are positive.
