The COVID-19 pandemic has led to millions of families staying at home in order to help flatten the curve and remain safe. This time at home has resulted in a big boost for the game industry, with countless developers and publishers seeing average playtime and overall purchases skyrocket. It’s clear that those hunkering down are spending a lot more of their time with video games in order to whittle away the hours.
Parents in particular have had it extremely rough during the pandemic, as they’re trying to keep their kids entertained while working from home. This has led parents to hunting down family-friendly games that they can let their child enjoy without worry. More often than not, Mom and Dad are arriving at the output of Outright Games for enjoyable, kid-friendly software.
Family-friendly content is Outright Games’ wheelhouse; it has worked with the biggest brands and licenses you can find in the younger demographic. Outright has tied up with Cartoon Network, Dreamworks, and Nickelodeon to secure their spot in the kid market, which has pushed the company’s sales to increase by 900% over the last two years. With games based on franchises such as Jumanji, Transformers, How to Train Your Dragon, Paw Patrol, Ben 10 and Ice Age, it’s no surprise to see children clamoring for Outright Games’ content.
While Outright Games was already seeing their business steadily climb in recent years, families being stuck at home due to the pandemic have kicked things into overdrive. According to Stephanie Malham, COO of Outright Games, family and friends have been more hungry for content than ever before.
“Overall, the research suggests that 10- to 15-year-olds played more games following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, 67% said that they spent more time playing games in March of 2020. Most respondents attributed this increase to the fact that they had more spare time to play games, their home situation changed, or because their family and friends also started playing games. Hence, there was more of a social incentive to play.”
With concern growing about the game industry and practices like loot boxes and pay-to-win mechanics, titles from Outright Games give parents some peace of mind. Outright’s software is family-friendly from start to finish, and doesn’t include any mechanics that try to push the player into spending more money. This family-first approach has helped the company achieve 27% sales growth year-on-year, as well as an increased profit margin by 33% during the same period. It appears that the content Outright Games is focusing on is exactly what mom and dad were looking for.