The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the world we live in. Broad categories of industry, particularly in the entertainment & travel sectors, have been hit hard financially.
But there are pockets of industry that have witnessed a massive uptick in both usage & sales. One of them is Online gaming. With #StayAtHome trending worldwide, millions of people are now advised (or even ordered) not to gather for the traditional forms of entertainment, irrespective of them being adults or kids. Many of them have now turned to the Internet & it’s readily downloadable Content for their daily entertainment fix.
Mobile games on Apple & Google Play’s Stores have seen a phenomenal increase in download statistics, which according to Statista, has resulted in 2970 million downloads for the 1st quarter of 2020 as compared to 2250 million downloads in the same period last year (Apple Store alone).
Steam, a premier portal for gaming on the Internet, has seen massive surges of users as well, with figures for March & April 2020 above 20-23 million online users (55,36% upsurge according to SimilarWeb), well above anything ever seen before. Valve, the company behind Steam, saw their own game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, reach over 1 million concurrent users on the 15th of March 2020, a new online record.
Makers of gaming hardware such as Microsoft, Nintendo & others have also seen huge demands, with Microsoft actually slowing the download speed for users on purpose to cater the increased numbers. Hardware, such as PlayStation & X-Box, have also seen increased sales, with reports of buyers buying out complete shipments of cheaper options only to double their price for hard-to-get stock.
Despite the huge jump in interest & sales, the gaming industry isn’t entirely out of the woods since most of the major exhibitions & shows for the industry have been canceled due to the coronavirus, resulting in a lack of platform for the launching of new games.
E-sports, played by teams in a common environment, have also suffered as a result of the scourge, but innovative ideas, such as players playing together-apart from their homes, is assisting in keeping the industry afloat. Changes due to the virus will be discussed at the GamesBeat Summit 2020 event on April 28-29, which will be conducted as an Online only event.
A rundown of the most popular games on various platforms, differs by country & region, but games such as Plague Inc, centered around a pandemic, has seen a rapid rise in users worldwide. It was particularly popular in China during the worst days of the epidemic. According to Statista the top iPhone game in March 2020 was Candy Crush.
The next hurdle for the gaming industry, however, is a common one, all businesses will need to put campaigns in place to keep up with the reduced spending power of people across the globe because many have lost their jobs because of downsizing by their companies.
