Impact of COVID-19 on Stock Prices in the Global Video Game Market

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted various sectors, including the global video game market. This study investigates how the pandemic influenced the stock prices of leading video game companies, such as Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Square Enix, Nintendo, Sony, and Activision Blizzard. The purpose of this research is to understand the relationship between the surge in COVID-19 cases and the stock performance within this industry, providing insights into the sector's resilience and adaptability during unprecedented times. Using a Vector Autoregression (VAR) model, we analysed weekly stock prices and the number of new COVID-19 cases from January 2020 to August 2023. Our methodology included determining the optimal number of lags for the VAR model, verifying data stationarity through the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test, and interpreting impulse response functions to gauge the impact of new COVID-19 cases on stock prices. The main findings reveal that Western companies, such as Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts, showed more positive responses to changes in COVID-19 case numbers compared to their Eastern counterparts, like Sony and Square Enix. These results underscore the differing impacts based on geographical and market presence factors. Theoretically, this research contributes to the understanding of market dynamics and investor behaviour in the face of global crises. Practically, the findings highlight the video game industry's potential as a resilient sector during economic downturns, offering valuable insights for investors and policymakers.