Okay, first, most people aren't aware that the gaming industry has been one of the least negatively affected by the pandemic and the covid-19 in general. Most developers have begun working from home, and while certainly there have been many delays as with other industries, all game companies have seen a spike in sales. All of them, without any exception. Some have been luckier than others and sold much more, though.
For example, Nintendo and their Switch has sold around 3.29 million units in the last quarter, as their release of Animal Crossing New Horizons caused the console to rise in popularity more than anyone expected or could have predicted.
However, this also had the unfortunate side effect of causing many kids to develop a gaming addiction. While this might seem completely harmless if you think about it, as its just kids spending their days playing games, and considering the fact that everyone's been spending their additional time at home due to lock-down, it should come as no surprise that kids are playing more than usual. However, we're talking about kids that spend hours glued to their televisions or computers. Around sixteen hours or even more, in some cases. They are playing from the very moment they wake up, to their final hours of the night and sometimes not even sleeping.
In the UK, for example, children who have a gaming addiction are to be offered treatment on the NHS. That's because, for those unaware, in 2017, it was announced by health authorities that gaming disorder was going to be classified as a mental health condition for the first time, and it did in June 2018, accepted by the World Health Organization. Lock-down hasn't been bad for gaming, but it definitely has been terrible for those addicted to it, as now they have an active incentive of NOT getting out of their home and staying in there, where they are in contact with their consoles.
In fact, other countries such as China have not stayed behind and have taken measures to protect this. China announced that gamers under the age of 18 will be banned from playing online games for more than 90 minutes on weekdays and will be forbidden from playing between 10pm and 8am. On weekends and public holidays, they will be allowed to play up to three hours per day. Kids are also unable to spend a certain amount of money in China, with only 200 yuan per month when they are under 16 and those between 16 and 18 allowed to spend 400 yuan. It makes sense for China, as they are the world's second biggest gaming market but gaming has been getting out of control in this country. We still have to see how the gaming industry and market responds to these rules, as lower playtime will mean lower sales for online games such as Fortnite or League of Legends.
On a different note, Sony currently has the spotlight with their upcoming PS5. Sony CEO Jim Ryan broke the silence about the PS5's value, and they have said it will definitely not be cheap. We can expect games such as Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, Godfall and Outriders. There's a high chance that the next generation of Playstation will be very expensive, much more than the Xbox Series X.
Finally, Amazon revealed that they are secretly developing a game streaming platform of their own. They want to use powerful computers placed in data centers to runt these games over the internet, and possible players would log in using their phones, tablets or even their Smart TV's. That would bypass the need to buy discs, download videogames or consoles altogether. Since Amazon also owns Twitch, it should come as no surprise that they would eventually dip their feet deeper into the gaming industry pool.
So that is the latest news in the gaming community, things have been changing drastically ever since the pandemic spread, but for the gaming world it seems like things are coming back to normal. What do you think of this news? I would love it if you let me know in the comments, so don’t forget to leave one down below!
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