Profiteers of the crisis: The games industry is the winner of the pandemic

Status: 01/18/2022 1:48 p.m

The German toy industry significantly increased its sales in the second year of the pandemic. Construction kits and puzzles as well as toys for toddlers and preschool children were particularly popular.

Toys were also high on the shopping list for many Germans last year. According to the German Association of the Toy Industry (DVSI), sales in the industry increased by a further four percent in 2021, after the toy industry had already been one of the few winners of the Corona crisis in 2020 with strong growth of eleven percent.

Building kits, board games and puzzles as well as toys for toddlers and pre-school children were again in high demand. Licensed toys, such as characters from films and television series, are also very popular. “The Germans can’t get enough of playing. Toys that offer a high level of encouragement to play and do handicrafts have blossomed into one of the most popular consumer goods during the pandemic. Even in the second year of the pandemic, Covid-19 is a sales driver for the toy market and toy manufacturers “, according to the industry association.

The losers are brick-and-mortar stores

The increase in sales was mainly due to online trading. The game sellers were left behind during the pandemic, and their sales fell by four percent. Like the entire retail trade, they suffer from restrictions and high infection rates.

In addition, the traditionally largest meeting of the industry, the International Toy Fair, which was supposed to open on February 2nd in Nuremberg, had to be canceled. On the occasion of the trade fair, numerous industry giants also wanted to publish their business figures.

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