The coronavirus outbreak has caused the government in China to employ many measures to control the disease. These include extending the Lunar New Year holiday and suspending production in many factories. However, this also meant a lot of manufacturing was disrupted in a country that produces most of the world's electronics.
Like many of the businesses operating in China, the gaming industry is also being under a lot of pressure. There have been many delays in production, with the Nintendo Switch going through two delays. The more the virus spreads and the Chinese government takes more tough measures against it, the longer the gaming industry will suffer.
The infection cases have reached over 70,000 and continue to rise, while health authorities are working on a vaccine. So far, we don't know when the outbreak will begin to subside. But what we know is there are already many examples of video game companies in trouble so far.
Nintendo in a rough spot
One of the first instances of this is the delay in the production of the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa said that this was "unavoidable". The company already moved some of its production chains to neighboring Vietnam because of the trade war, but most of them are still in China.
Nintendo suffered another delay related to the Switch. Shipments of the Joy-Con controllers and Ring Fit Adventure games to Japan have been delayed as a result of the coronavirus. Nintendo said that shipments to the West would continue as before, citing the lack of a similar effect on its supply chain.
A recent report claimed that other consoles like the Xbox Series X and the PS5 could also hit a delay. But other news outlets have asserted Microsoft and Sony are not delaying their console shipments.
Relatedly, Private Division, a Take-Two Interactive label could not release the port of the game "The Outer Worlds" to the Switch on time, because of the coronavirus affecting its Chinese partner.
Impacts on other companies
Production in other gaming equipment also "caught" the virus. The Oculus Quest VR units will be further impacted by existing shortages as a result of this outbreak.
Many video game companies employ subsidiaries and studios in China to work on asset production. As a result, the coronavirus caused game development and publishing companies to receive a hit to their operations.
Ubisoft CEO Yes Guillemot talked about a disruption in its operations in China but avoided mentioning the virus directly. There are several Ubisoft studios in China that Guillemot said had closed due to the "disruption," but would reopen starting this week.
"At the moment it's easy to handle," Guillemot said. "We don't know what's going to happen. What you can expect is that we will be able to work with all the other studios we have in case it's too long".
Coronavirus disrupting esports
Various esports events around the world have not escaped the wrath of the coronavirus. Activision-Blizzard suspended all Overwatch League matches in China. PUBG Corp and Riot Games did the same to many PUBG and LoL events.
One of these events was the PGS: Berlin PUBG esports event, which had to be postponed from its original April schedule. PUBG Corp said in a statement: “We will provide updates once we have a better understanding of the best options for esports fans, players, and staff”.
“We thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this situation,” said PUBG Corp. This shows that it's not just in China where disruptions have taken place, but also in Europe and other parts of the world.
One video game seems to do well in the midst of a virus outbreak. The game "Plague Inc." has seen a spike in sales just as the movie "Contagion" has. About this, developer Ndemic Creations said this usually happens during disease outbreaks. The developer also warned players to not take it too seriously.
For more news and updates on the current devastating coronavirus outbreak, check out our coronavirus section on GuruGamer.com
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