COVID-19 does wonders for market capitalizations of top video game companies

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      This week, the Buy Shares website reported that the six top video companies have enjoyed a tremendous spike in valuations this year.

      According to writer Jastra Ilic, their market capitalizations collectively rose by an eye-popping $354.5 billion.

      I didn't know if I could believe that, having never heard of the Buy Shares website. So I did my own math, based on data from Y Charts.

      I found that the increase from December 31 to July 2 was $569.93 billion.

      It's as clear a sign as possible that video games have taken off in this year of COVID-19. And some large companies are reaping a windfall.

      Keep in mind that my figures incorporate the increasing market capitalizations of three big players in the video game industry that make vast amounts of money in other areas—Microsoft, Sony, and Tencent.

      Tencent isn't yet a household name in North America, but it should be: the publicly traded Chinese conglomerate is the world's largest producer of video games.

      It's also one of the world's biggest social media companies through WeChat, and it's a monstrously huge venture capital player.

      Tencent is based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in Guandong and it's listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

      It achieved the highest percentage increase in market value, as shown by the chart below. All figures are in U.S. dollars.

      Tencent

      Market cap on December 31: $458.62 billion

      Market cap on July 2: $637.06 billion

      Dollar increase: $178.44 billion

      Percentage increase: 38.9

      Activision Blizzard

      Market cap on December 31: $45.68 billion

      Market cap on July 2: $59.72 billion

      Dollar increase: $14.04 billion

      Percentage increase: 30.7

      Microsoft

      Market cap on December 31: $1.2 trillion

      Market cap on July 2: $1.564 trillion

      Dollar increase: $364 billion

      Percentage increase 30.3

      Electronic Arts

      Market cap on December 31: $31.29 billion

      Market cap on July 2: $38.64 billion

      Dollar increase: $7.35 billion

      Percentage increase: 23.5

      Nintendo

      Market cap on December 31: $47.55 billion

      Market cap on July 2: $53.72 billion

      Dollar increase: $6.1 billion

      Percentage increase: 13

      Sony

      Market cap on December 31: $83.4 billion

      Market cap on July 2: $85.69 billion

      Dollar increase: $2.29 billion

      Percentage increase: 2.29

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