Much more than games and consoles: Companies that are holding with electronic leisure

The first person who became a millionaire during the Californian gold fever was Samuel Brannan. Journalist and entrepreneur, Brannan founded the newspaper who informed all Americans that the coveted metal had been found in the hills of Sacramento.

It was also, coincidentally, the only surrounding store that sold peaks, blades and other tools necessary for extraction. They say he bought the cats at 20 cents and then sold them for $ 15.

Thus, one of the axioms of the business world was born. Not only can you make money with an activity, but also providing the tools necessary to perform it. In the United States, this expression is literally used as a successful formula: "sell peaks in gold fever".

And that is the formula that has catapulted the companies such as NVIDIA, Razer, Steelseries or Hyperx in recent years. Videogames have become a lucrative business. Last year, according to the IDC consultancy, they moved close to 152,000 million euros around the world, surpassing the cinema in income.

But money is not alone in creating new titles or selling video consoles. Companies that sell accessories to play, from graphic cards to monitors, mice, chairs and control controls, have seen how triggered their income in recent years.

Nvidia is perhaps the paradigmatic case. The company manufactures many graphic cards required by PCs to show games with the highest level of detail and realism. The price of the action has risen 135% in the last year and that even though your business selling business for the cryptomoned mining (graphic card processing technology is perfect for use in this field ) He has suffered a serious setback after Bitcoin 'Farms' of China. In the last five years, the action accumulates a rise of 1,300%.

For companies such as Razer, Mad Catz or Logitech, which manufacture controls and peripherals of different types for electronic leisure, the future also paints very well. According to the Mordor Intelligence consultancy, the global market of this type of products was 6,800 million euros by 2020 but the figure will bend in 2026. "The rapid growth of electronic sports has increased the demand for keyboards and advanced controls for games "They explain.

New game forms and the streamers' boom (players who broadcast their games live) have created new opportunities for these companies. Elgato, one of the brands of the company of Corsair game accessories, has been one of the most benefited. Its lighting panels and devices to control live retransmissions are among the accessories most demanded by users of platforms such as YouTube or Twitch.

Thanks to them the benefits of Corsair grew 118% by 2020, until reaching 134 million euros. "Our segment of peripherals for players and creators has grown by 83% and we have exceeded 500 million in income," explain from the company.

The main problem that is now faced by the industry is similar to that other sectors live. During the Covid-19 pandemic, several game accessory manufacturers experienced delays due to the lack of components and raw materials, since most manufacturing plants are in China. In the case of graphic cards, scarcity came from before, due to the demand of cryptomoneds.

The problems of supply video consoles are also passing invoice. It is very difficult to find a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X, by putting two of the most recent and advanced machines. The lack of semiconductors has forced Sony and Microsoft to cut out production. That also makes the demand for accessories related to games, at least until the numerous bottlenecks of the logistics sector are solved.