Many gaming companies are now publicly traded and subject to the fluctuations of the stock market. Today, on December 31, 2021, we take a look at the stocks of major gaming companies like Activision Blizzard, Capcom, and Electronic Arts, and ask: What would have been the most profitable investment if you had invested your money on January 1, 2021?
What is the list about? We look at which video game stock would have made or lost money if you had invested your money in it on January 1, 2021. We assume that someone would have invested €10,000.
Activision Blizzard
How much money could you have made? If you had invested €10,000 in Activision Blizzard on January 1, 2021, you would now have lost about €1,900.
The stock price has dropped by 19.01% over the year.
Why is that? Activision Blizzard had a good first half of the year, riding on the success of Call of Duty: Warzone. In December 2020, we reported at MeinMMO: “The stock of Activision Blizzard is more valuable than ever.“
However, when reports about the sexism scandal at Blizzard emerged in the summer, the stock price fell. It hit its lowest point when it became known that the next major Blizzard games Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 would be delayed.
What is the recent development? The stock has recovered slightly from its absolute low. In the last month, it has increased by 13%.
Electronic Arts
How much money could you have made? If you had invested €10,000 in Electronic Arts on January 1, 2021, you would now have made about €393 in profit. The stock has risen by 3.93%.
Why is that? EA had a relatively unstable year with many ups and downs. APEX Legends, The Sims, and FIFA are still considered cash cows. However, the sentiment against microtransactions is worsening worldwide.
2021 lacked the big hits. Battlefield 2042 is viewed critically.
What is the recent development? In the last month, the stock has recovered from the setback after the release of Battlefield 2042. It has risen by 6.78%.
Take-Two
How much money could you have made? Over the year, you would have lost about €373.
Why is that? Take-Two has major game franchises in its portfolio, such as GTA, Red Dead Redemption, NBA 2K, and many others.
However, relatively little happened during the pandemic year 2021. GTA 5 is still extremely successful. However, there are currently no major releases planned.
What is the recent development? In the last month, the stock has increased by 8.96%.
Roblox
How much money could you have made? Roblox went public in March. If you had invested €10,000 at the start on March 10, you would have made a profit of €4,465.
Why is that? Roblox is one of the major winners on the stock market for video games. The game is trending because a new marketplace is emerging where customers create content for other customers. Roblox also fits into the narrative of the ‘metaverse.’
Roblox fits perfectly with the zeitgeist of investors.
What is the recent development? In the last month, the stock has lost 20.3%. In mid-November, there was hype about financial numbers that has cooled off somewhat. Roblox was even briefly ahead of Activision Blizzard in market value.
Capcom
How much money could you have made? Those who invested in Capcom would have been a bit less well-off at the end of 2021 than at the beginning of 2021.
You would have lost about €2,081.
What is the reason? Capcom also had a relatively weak year in 2021 with new releases. In the past, games like Monster Hunter have been very successful. In 2021, relatively little happened due to the pandemic.
This is how the recent development went: Capcom lost about 5.58% in the last month.
Nvidia
How much money could you have made? Anyone who invested in Nvidia can count themselves lucky. They would have more than doubled their investment.
With an investment of €10,000, the graphics card manufacturer would have delivered €14,333 in profit.
What is the reason? Business reports were extremely good and exceeded Wall Street expectations. Profits increased by another 50% compared to 2020 – and there are still high expectations for the future (via fool.com).
Nvidia is simply huge in the graphics card sector.
This is how the recent development went: In the last month, the stock fell by about 6.7%.
An ETF
What is it? An ETF is an investment instrument that seeks to replicate the value development of an entire industry. So you do not buy the stock of a single company, but an instrument that reflects the stocks of several companies in one industry.
How much money could you have made? If you had invested €10,000 in the VanEck Video Gaming and eSports ETF on January 1, you would have made about €516 in profit.
What is the reason? The ETF also includes hardware manufacturers such as NVIDIA, which performed very well in 2021 – while some values in Asia lost value due to stricter restrictions in China.
This is how the recent development went: In the last month, the ETF fell again by 6.46% – after it had looked very good in November.
2020 was a hype year for gaming companies on the stock market – 2021 rather a correction
This is how 2021 was overall: 2021 was a rather mixed year for investors in the gaming sector.
This was also due to the fact that stocks had gained significantly in value during the pandemic year 2020. The ETF, which only gained 5% in 2021, had increased by about 60% in 2020.
In 2021, gaming companies felt the “disadvantages of the Corona pandemic.” Production cycles slowed down as developers worked from home, everything became more difficult, and the stores of games and content were empty. The release of major games was missing, and the business figures looked less rosy compared to the previous year, leading to stock value corrections.
However, Roblox shows that certain concepts that strongly resonate with the zeitgeist can create high values. Especially in the areas of NFT and Bitcoin, there is a huge hype that has captured gaming in recent months.
Anyone who invests in the stock market can experience enormous fluctuations in stock value. This is not for the faint-hearted or for those who want their money to be available at all times. Because overnight, large parts of wealth can lose significant value:
Man loses $2.2 billion in one day due to Bitcoin and MMORPG scandal
