Videogame makers, investors prepare for more rough times ahead
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Following what was in large part a rough month for videogame stocks, the sector is seeing several new trends emerge that are likely to color investors' sentiment about the likes of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) and other bellwether gaming companies. 
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said Tuesday that recent booming inflation levels, along with ongoing concerns about the economy going into recession "has caused the overall market to decline precipitously in recent months," and that videogame publishers, and those tied to the videogame market "weren't spared from the carnage, with investors heading for the exits."
Evidence of that could be seen in just how poorly videogame shares performed in June. Pachter said that during the month, EA (EA) shares fell by 12%, Ubisoft (OTCPK:UBSFY) fell 14% and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) shares were trimmed by 2%. Videogame retailer GameStop (GME) also slipped by 2% in June, while Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), which is in the process of being acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) for approximately $67B, saw its shares flatline for the month.
By comparison, Pachter said Wedbush's own video game index fell by 5%, and the S&P 500 (SP500) was down by 8% in June.
With videogame companies entering what is historically a quiet period during the summer, Pachter said to not expect any great turnaround from the gaming sector for a while.
"There are few catalysts over the near term to restore investor confidence in the game publishers," Pachter said. "And it likely will require a rebound in earnings to trigger a rebound in share prices."
Pachter said that there are a handful of "themes" that are emerging across the videogame market that are going to play notable roles in the companies' growth prospects, and abilities to change with the industry. 
Among those is in-app advertising, as Pachter said "it is becoming increasingly important for app developers to monetize their games through the deployment of ads" in order to create new revenue streams. Pachter also said that subscription offerings, such as recent new options from Microsoft (MSFT) and Sony (SONY) are also providing new and "compelling outlets" for incremental revenue increases.
Additionally, Pachter said that more games being developed for the cloud, which also require providers to need less hardware on site, "should significantly expand the industry."
Videogame investors will soon turn their eyes toward industry data on game sales in June, following results that showed sales fell to a 27-month-low in May.