As video games grow, they are eating the media

Warner Bros released a new Harry Potter title last month and took $850m in two weeks. That made it the second-most-successful Potter launch in the film studio’s history. But “Hogwarts Legacy”, the title in question, was no movie: it was a video game.Warner’s hit is an example of how gaming is besting older media, both as a business and as a way for people to entertain themselves. Consumers are forecast to spend $185bn on games this year, five times what they will spend at the cinema and 70% more than they will allocate to streamers like Netflix. Once a children’s hobby, gaming has grown up. Console players in their 30s and 40s now outnumber those in their teens and 20s.