The State of Gaming in 2022

Gaming is an activity that many people around the world enjoy. For these people, as soon as evening descends, they will likely put their feet up and get ready to engage in a fun gaming session that can last hours. While this is something that may have been scorned decades ago, the simple truth now is that everyone is playing video games. There is no denying that the world has embraced them considering that the industry is the biggest thing in entertainment - it overtook movies and music combined. However, when people look towards the USPs of gaming, it is easy to understand why this might be the case. They are interactive and immersive among other positives, and this appears to be something that people crave.

This is why video game devices would have been so popular during the last few years. Those who have been trying to buy one might have run into issues with supply once they get onto their preferred retailers, but the current state of the world might reveal why this is the case. As many will know, the last couple of years has seen sporadic lockdowns placed in many countries across the world, which compelled many people to stay in their homes for safety. While this would have been an isolating time, people would have turned to entertainment accessible from home such as gambling, and there are plenty of online player favourites to choose from online. However, gaming would have been a much more popular way of passing the time.

The rise in gaming during this time may have affected how many games consoles were available, but this was not the leading cause of why stocks were and still are limited. All one must do to see the situation visualised is to try and buy a PlayStation 5. They will soon find that it is a near-impossible endeavour if they don't want to spend outrageous amounts of time searching the internet for PS5s that are in stock or if they don't want to pay over retail price. In truth, the reason why many games consoles are struggling to meet demand is because of a chip shortage due to the pandemic that stopped production for a time.

This has not just affected the console community, but it has touched the PC community as well. Those looking to build their own computers will likely be faced with a sticky scenario when the time comes to buy a graphics card as these have massively inflated due to limited stock. This essentially means that some PC gamers cannot play games without paying extortionate prices. In addition, this doesn't just apply to the newest graphics cards. Preowned GPUs and new last generation GPUs have all increased, affecting gamers on all budgets.

Given all of this, it is clear to see that the state of gaming in 2022 is dire. It is hard to even get access to play games and players will be sad to learn that the chip shortage is expected to continue for much of the year. However, as some blockbuster games are expected to release this year, the hotly anticipated Elden Ring being one of them, it isn't all bad news for fans of gaming.