2021’s Best Cities for Gamers – WalletHub Study

When gaming consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One appeared in 2013, the global video games market was estimated to be above $75 billion. In 2017, the year the Nintendo Switch was released, that amount had shot up past $120 billion. Now the market is on track to pass the $200 billion mark by 2023.

The next generation of video game consoles, along with a raised standard for graphics, processing power, and game lineups. With the recent release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, two powerhouse consoles occupy the market — and they surely will be front and center for the next several years.

Many people turned to video games during the COVID quarantine. A study conducted by OnePoll on behalf of World of Warships by Wargaming found that 71% of people have developed a video game habit during quarantine. The survey found that people working from home admitted to playing video games during the workday an average of four times a week.

With this year’s video game hardware sales up 81% compared to the previous year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2021’s Best Cities for Gamers.

To determine the best places to be a serious gamer, they ompared the 100 largest cities across 22 key indicators of gamer-friendliness. The data ranges from average internet speed to video-game stores per capita.

Best vs. Worst

• Las Vegas has the most video-game stores per square root of the population, 0.031378, which is 26 times more than in Boston, the city with the fewest at 0.001209.

• Irvine, California, has the highest average download speed, 89 Mbps, which is 3.6 times higher than in Buffalo, New York, the city with the lowest at 25 Mbps.

• Gilbert, Arizona, has the highest share of households with a broadband connection, 95.80 percent, which is 1.5 times higher than in Detroit, the city with the lowest at 64.40 percent.

• Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has the cheapest monthly internet cost, $41.88, which is three times cheaper than in Anchorage, Alaska, the city with the most expensive at $123.85.

WalletHub Q & A

Which is more cost effective: a subscription model akin to Netflix that allows users to access a catalog of games or purchasing games individually?

“In terms of cost-effectiveness for the consumer, it all depends on one’s gaming habits and proclivities,” said William Cheng, PhD, Dartmouth College. “When I was in college, I remember subscribing to GameFly, which operated akin to Netflix’s pre-streaming DVD swaps: receive a physical game cartridge or disc in the mail, play it for a few weeks, send it back, request another. The problem was that I did not have time to play as much as I would have liked, and experienced subscriber’s remorse (payment of monthly subscription fee) for my relative inactivity. Similar logistical and psychological barriers confront customers of gaming as well as video-streaming subscription services today (e.g., PlayStation Plus, and comparable current-gen premiums). “

“The subscription services offered by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft for their console platforms are excellent, cost-effective ways to play a wide variety of games that would otherwise be very expensive to purchase individually,” said Jeff Spoonhower, University of Notre Dame. “For each plan, users pay a monthly or annual fee and then get access to a handful of high-quality games each month that can be played indefinitely, as long as the user's subscription remains paid and active. Annual game subscription fees typically cost $20-$60 but can be purchased for less during certain times of the year, such as Black Friday through the holiday shopping season. The one downside to these subscription console gaming plans is that users do not get to select the games that are offered each month. They are picked by the console companies themselves. As a result, some of these subscription plan games may not be appropriate for younger chidden to play.”

Do you believe the popularity of esports will continue to rise? Will it ever rival major sports leagues such as the NFL or MLB?

” The popularity of eSports will continue to rise,” said Martha Buell, PhD, University of Delaware. “What eSports fans and competitors have known for a long time is something that we all have learned from COVID 19, that there are really structural and economic benefits to living, working, and playing in an online space, allowing for people from widely varying locations to participate in an event or competition without incurring huge costs in time and travel. The additional benefits to health and safety of not bringing large groups of people together from far-flung regions are also important. “

“eSports audiences already rival many major sports events in terms of numbers and have for a while,” said Jessica D. Bayliss, PhD, Rochester Institute of Technology. “With collegiate eSports only gaining more traction, I do not see why it would not eventually rival major sports leagues.”

Despite the current economic crisis, the video game industry is thriving. What will be the long-term impact on the landscape of this industry?

“eReality and meatReality will become one in the future,” said Paul Toprac, PhD, University of Texas at Austin. “Along with that, games and other immersive environments will become a major part of the workings of society as robots and artificial intelligence take over many of the current occupations and activities that humans are engaged in today. There is no doubt that the game industry is going to continue to grow and thrive in the future. We may be finally entering the era where humans have more leisure time than work time.”

“The gaming industry will thrive... in unhealthy ways,” said Chang Yun, PhD, University of Houston. “Sadly, and unfortunately, we will witness a striking majority of releases being sequels and/or remakes in the foreseeable future - the industry will focus on these instead of creating brand new original games thanks to the guarantee of profits as established fan bases will buy these sequels/remakes with enthusiasm. In addition, we will witness the toxicity of in-game purchases (i.e., DLCs) on the rise beyond the tolerable rate in the name of profit margins. At a certain point, many AAA game publishers and developers will be accused of primarily serving stockholders/investors rather than the players/fans. By the way, what I also fear is multitudes of future releases delivering dazzling/eye-popping graphics but coming with buggy contents and lower fun/immersion factors....”

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-for-gamers/36270

Courtesy: WalletHub