Gaming After COVID – What Has Changed?

COVID changed many things about the way people lived their lives, socialized, and entertained themselves. One of the biggest changes was to the gaming industry. The gaming industry has seen huge jumps in attentiveness and revenue all the way from forms of entertainment like major media through online gambling and Esports.

People found themselves working from home or going to school from home and no longer having to commute. Something as simple as doing away with a daily hour-long or two hour-long commute freed up millions of people around the world to find new ways to entertain themselves, namely, with online gaming. 

Fun Facts:

• Gaming companies like Activision, Twitch, Nintendo, and Microsoft reported significant increases in online gaming and subscriptions.
• Microsoft, for example, offered a Game Pass Subscription Service which functions the same way as the monthly subscription for Netflix only specifically for online games. Microsoft now has over 10 million subscribers.
• Of these 10 million subscribers for Microsoft gaming, there has been a 130% increase in multiplayer engagement.
• Nintendo saw a 24% increase of their gaming console switch and has sold over 13.5 million copies of its latest game: Animal Crossing.
• Twitch, a streaming platform for video games, saw a 50% increase in the number of hours people played games as soon as the pandemic hit.
• Even now video game sales have increased 35%.
• In the United States the amount of time playing games during the pandemic has increased 45%, 42% in France, 29% in the United Kingdom, and 20% in Germany. These statistics indicate that gaming has increased across the world as a direct result of the Coronavirus, and the statistics are increasing on a weekly basis showing that people are playing more and more often as the weeks come and go.  

But these types of video games are not the only things that are increasing. Covid has changed access to other games like sports. Esports in particular have become very popular as certain events are no longer held in person at least for the foreseeable future and have been converted to a live streaming opportunity where fans can not only view the event but place bets on it.

In addition to placing bets on Esports, quarantine has helped increase the number of online gambling hours that are invested on websites offering free trials, free games, free spins, and a variety of other promotional materials.  Millions of people who were forced to stay at home because of coronavirus restrictions have spent the last couple of years finding new forms of entertainment. And as countries start to change their stay-at-home orders and business is open, these industries are looking for ways to continue that level of attentiveness.

Industries are looking to offer more subscription-based services and provide enhanced gaming promotions that give individuals the opportunity to reap more rewards than ever before with their forms of entertainment.

Enhanced Gaming Promotions Integrate

In terms of this newfound popularity, Developers and gaming platforms of all varieties are finding ways that they can continue to sustain this level of attraction, and to potentially increase the frequency with which people play their most popular games.  What are some new ways that gaming sites are using to re-attract people?

Through better versions of traditional bonuses like the no deposit bonus.  The no deposit bonus has been particularly useful at re-attracting people who may have switched to other types of games in the span of the pandemic or people who have simply reduced the number of hours they have played their favorite casino games as stay-at-home restrictions have loosened. The no deposit bonus gives an opportunity for players to try new games without having to commit, something akin to a free trial of a subscription-based gaming service.

Other ways that gaming sites are attracting people include enhanced promotions marketed on a wider array of websites particularly social media platforms. There are many online casinos today that are setting aside social aspects of the gaming world but on a digital platform.

For example, players can now enjoy certain casinos and games that are linked to their social media accounts so that they can connect with other people who are playing those same games or post their successes every time they win. Certain casinos are even offering individualized, proprietary social sites like this link to the casino website as a form of internal social media for the same purposes and social connections.