Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the video game industry

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The video game industry has been substantially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in various ways, most often due to concerns over travel to and from China or elsewhere, and delays in the manufacturing processes within China.

Overview[]

In contrast to many other economic sectors that are drastically affected by the pandemic, the video game industry has been more resilient. Most video game developers, publishers, and operators have been able to maintain operations with employees working from home remotely to sustain game development and digital releases, though as movement control orders persisted, some productivity issues have arisen.[1] With many people globally at home and unable to work, online gaming has observed record numbers of players during the pandemic as a popular activity to counter physical distancing for society, a practice recommended by the World Health Organization[2] that helped boost revenues for many companies in the gaming industry.[3][4]

There have still been negative impacts on the industry, notably with major trade events like E3 2020 cancelled or postponed which may have impacted relationships between the smaller developers and publishers. This has particularly impacted indie developers who typically use these events for face-to-face meetings with potential partners to gain funding and publishing support, and caused them to have to delay or cancel projects.[5] Many esport leagues had to alter plans for their games, transitioning from live events to remote play or cancellation altogether. Portions of the sector that relied on physical products, such as retail stores and peripheral makers, as well as those dependent on in-person activities such as quality assurance through playtesting, ratings evaluation, and marketing, also struggled with global stay-at-home orders.[6]

As the origin of the pandemic, China is expected to impact the supply chains for electronics, which may limit hardware availability once the pandemic begins to be resolved. However, it did not impact plans for Microsoft and Sony to release the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 respectively in Fall 2020.[7]

Cancelled or affected industry events[]

Many trade events and expositions for the industry were cancelled or postponed due to bans against public gatherings during the pandemic. E3 2020 was cancelled by March 2020 by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).[8] On March 11, 2020, the ESA affirmed that they cancelled the physical event as they were looking to arrange for virtual presentations from its exhibitors,[9] but by April 2020, they determined that the logistics of arranging a virtual event was too difficult due to disruptions from the pandemic, and cancelled the event in 2020, with plans in place to return in 2021. The ESA offered the E3 website to help partners support product announcements in lieu of E3's cancellation.[10] Additional events were arranged to substitute for the trade event, such as Geoff Keighley arranging a four-month Summer Game Fest with several game developers, publishers, and other industry leaders to provide announcements and game demos from May to August 2020.[11]

Other cancelled or postponed events included:

  • The Taipei Game Show, planned from February 6–9, 2020, was postponed until June 25–28, 2020,[12][13] but was cancelled in March 2020 due to pandemic's escalation.[14]
  • The Mobile World Congress, to have been held in Barcelona, Spain, in March 2020 was cancelled as several of the China-based vendors had to cancel plans.[15]
  • Several vendors withdrew or scaled plans back to present at PAX East in Boston at the end of February 2020, including Sony Interactive Entertainment, Square Enix, Electronic Arts, Capcom, CD Projekt, and PUBG Corporation.[16][17][18][19]
  • Several companies pulled out from the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco in March 2020, forcing the organizers to postpone the show to later in the year.[20][21] However, the event organizers devised a scheme to run the GDC as a virtual conference following a similar schedule across the same set of days by using the streaming services with a subset of the planned events that are presented through the streaming media and was made available online a week later. This included the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival presentations.[22]
  • The 16th British Academy Games Awards, normally presented at a ceremony in London, were moved to a live streamed event due to concerns over the pandemic.[23]
  • Gamescom, which was to be held in Cologne, Germany, was forced to cancel as Germany banned public events through August 2020 following the lifting of the initial lockdown, but organizers will move some portions of the event to be solely online. Gamescom Asia, which was to be held in Singapore, was postponed to 2021.[24][25][26]
  • TennoCon 2020 was cancelled.[27][failed verification]
  • Paris Games Week, planned for October 23–27, 2020, was cancelled.[28]
  • Tokyo Game Show that was scheduled to run September 24–27, 2020, was cancelled, though online events were held in its place.[29]
  • EGX 2020, planned for September 17–20, 2020, was cancelled, though online events were held September 12–20, 2020.[30]
  • COMPUTEX Taipei 2020, planned for June 2–6, 2020, was postponed to September 28–30, 2020,[31] but was cancelled in June 2020.[32]
  • The 2020 BlizzCon was cancelled.[33]
  • Brasil Game Show 2020, which was planned for October 8–12, 2020, was cancelled.[34]
  • South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, was cancelled,[35] though the SXSW Gaming Awards were still awarded though an online announcement in March 2020.[36]
  • Emerald City Comic Con planned for Seattle, Washington, in March was cancelled.[37]
  • TwitchCon Europe and TwitchCon US were cancelled.[38][39]
  • Minecon was cancelled.[40]
  • The 25th QuakeCon event, planned for Dallas, Texas in August.[41]
  • The San Diego Comic Con, planned in July 2020, was cancelled.[42]
  • The 17th annual Touhou Project dōjinshi convention (Reitaisai) planned in Tokyo, Japan, first planned on March 22, 2020, was postponed until May 17, before being cancelled on April 12,[43] five days following the initial announcement of a state of emergency made by the Japanese government.[44]
  • Comiket 98, a dōjinshi convention held in Japan, was cancelled.[45]
  • 2020 Gaming Community Expo scheduled for Orlando, Florida, in June was cancelled. The event moved online as a charity marathon.
  • PAX West 2020, originally scheduled for September 4–7, 2020, and PAX Australia 2020, originally scheduled for October 9–11, 2020, collaborated with EGX to host PAX Online x EGX Digital, which was held September 12–20, 2020.[46]
  • The 2021 Japanese Amusement Expo (JAEPO) was cancelled in an October 1, 2020's announcement.[47]

Esports[]

Most esports events are based on online games, but are typically played in local arenas to reduce network latency between players as well as to provide an audience. The pandemic caused many of these events to either become cancelled or switch to a fully online format for 2020:

  • ESL Pro League Season 11, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament was originally going to be an offline event with the finals taking place at Denver, Colorado, United States. However, due to the pandemic, ESL announced that the both the regular season and the finals would be split into two regions: Europe and North America. The regular season and the finals were played entirely online.[48]
  • The competitions for non-rhythm games of the ninth season of Konami Arcade Championships (KAC), which were to be held from February 22 and 24 at e-sports GINZA Studio, were postponed indefinitely. This did not affect the competitions within Konami's Bemani franchise, as they were held earlier that month at the Japan Amusement Expo.[49] On December 16, Konami announced that the tenth season in 2021 would restrict participation to Japanese players only instead of worldwide as it has been traditionally done since 2012 (which include South Korea, Asia and United States), as a result of the travel restrictions set by the Japanese government; in addition, the finals that were to be held on March 6 and 7, 2021, would be in the GINZA Studio, behind closed doors.[50] On January 7, 2021, Konami extended the qualifying period for the 10th tournament indefinitely while the finals were postponed.[51] On February 8, 2021, Konami announced the 9th tournament would be cancelled.[51] On March 22, 2021, a day after the state of emergency was lifted,[52] the qualifier rounds were announced to end on April 20.[53]
  • 闘神祭2020 (Tōshinsai), a cross-arcade game tournament held in Japan that is co-organised by NTT-esports and Taito, was cancelled.[54] The finals initially scheduled from May 16–17 were postponed to August 8–9.[55]
  • The Overwatch League, in its 2020 season and third overall, planned to implement a more traditional home/away approach to regular league players, with teams travelling across the globe to various homestead events for matches. With the pandemic, numerous changes to the league's plans had to be implemented, which included switching to online matches, reworking the teams' distributions in divisions as some teams were forced to suspend operations, cancelling certain mid-season events, and otherwise reducing the planned schedule of play.[56][57][58][59]
  • The League of Legends Rift Rivals and Mid-Season Invitational tournaments were cancelled, with the latter being replaced with the 2020 Mid-Season Streamathon,[60][61] while 2020 World Championship would be played exclusively in Shanghai using the "isolation bubble" environment.[62] In addition, majority of regional leagues, including League of Legends Championship Series and the League of Legends European Championship were either played in arenas without audience or switched to online formats.[63][64] Due to national travel restrictions, esports teams of Vietnam Championship Series could not participate in the 2020 World Championship[65] and 2021 Mid-Season Invitational.[66]
  • The 2020 Pokémon World Championships was cancelled by The Pokémon Company including its North American (scheduled for June 26–28) and global (scheduled for August 14–16) events.[67]
  • The 2020 Nürburgring World Tour, a live event of the 2020 FIA-Certified Gran Turismo Championships season, was cancelled after the 2020 Nürburgring 24 Hours was postponed by the organizers to September.[68] As the online season had begun on March 17, the decision was made to change the stage that was planned to end on April 18 an "exhibition stage", and to restart the season on April 25.[69] A teaser trailer for the restarted season indicated that no further live events would be held, having held only one live event in Sydney, Australia.[70] Consequently, the regional and world finals for the series were held as online-based events.[71]
  • The live Rocket League World Championship for its 9th season, planned for April 24, 2020, in Dallas was indefinitely postponed.[72]
  • The 2020 Fortnite World Cup was cancelled.[73]
  • The International 2020 tournament for Dota 2, set in Stockholm in August 2020, was postponed indefinitely.[74]
  • Evo 2020, set to be held in Las Vegas near the end of July, was cancelled. Online events were scheduled before the entire tournament was cancelled due to sexual abuse allegations against its co-founder.[75][76][77]
  • Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2020, set to be held in Philippines on June 12–14, 2020, was cancelled.[78]
  • Arena of Valor World Cup 2020, set to be held in Vietnam, was cancelled.[79]
  • Free Fire Champions Cup 2020, set to be held in Indonesia in April 2020;[80] and Free Fire Worlds Series 2021,set to be held in Mexico, were cancelled.[81]
  • The Asia-Pacific Predator League 2020 was postponed to Spring 2021. All of the qualifying teams during the event were to participate in the finale in 2021.[82]
  • The Teppen World Championship 2020 was held entirely online.[83] Offline tournaments meant to qualify players to the finals were cancelled due to the pandemic.[84]

While many traditional physical sports games, seasons, and playoffs were cancelled due to the pandemic, the organizing leagues turned to video game equivalents as alternative entertainment, using the professional athletes from their leagues within the games. Some examples of this included:

  • NASCAR launched its eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series on March 22, 2020, featuring NASCAR drivers competing using the iRacing game. The IndyCar Series launched its own IndyCar iRacing Challenge series as well.[85][86]
  • Major League Baseball partnered with Sony to create a short league for 30 professional players playing MLB: The Show.[87]
  • The 2021 Pro Bowl for the National Football League, to have taken place in January 2021, was cancelled due to COVID-19, with the NFL opting to use a virtual game in Madden NFL 21 to celebrate the players selected by fans.[88]

Television networks which normally would have shown the sporting events that were cancelled have turned to both these replacement sports programs as well as other esport tournaments as replacement programming during the pandemic.[86] On June 14, 2020, the BBC reported that about 22 million sports viewers turned to virtual races when lockdowns were implemented. Questions over the future of esports rose with Formula 1 returning in July 2020.[89][90]

Hardware production[]

  • Nintendo Switch production in Vietnam had been scaled back due to reduced supply of components out of China because of the quarantines. As a result, supplies for the Switch were significantly reduced in Japan.[91] In its annual report issued in May 2020, Nintendo believed that production would resume normal levels within a few months.[92] Further, Nintendo of America closed its repair center as a preventative measure. The company's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and the flagship store in New York City were also closed.[93]
  • Valve announced that its production on the Valve Index virtual reality headset was reduced due to the impact of the pandemic and would have fewer shipments expected than planned by the release of Half-Life: Alyx.[94]
  • Konami delayed release of the TurboGrafx-16 Mini in March due to production chain issues in China due to the pandemic.[95]
  • Atari delayed the Atari VCS that was initially supposed to release in March 2020 because of the pandemic.[96]
  • Microsoft did not anticipate any delay in the planned release of the Xbox Series X console, according to Phil Spencer as of April 2020. He stated that some games expected near launch may be delayed as a result.[97]

Sales[]

Generally, sales of video games have increased as a result of stay-at-home and lockdown orders from the pandemic, as people turned to video games as a pastime.[1] The NPD Group reported that video game sales in North America in March 2020 were up 34% from those in March 2019, and video game hardware up by 63% – which included more than twice the number of units of the Nintendo Switch console. Net spending across the first quarter of 2020 in the United States reached US$10.9 billion, up 9% in 2020 compared to 2019 according to NPD. An increase at this point, near the planned end of the eighth generation of video game consoles,was unusual and was attributed to the pandemic.[98][99] By July 2020, NPD Group reported that the total sales of video game hardware and software within the United States in the first six months of 2020 reached US$6.6 billion, the highest since 2010.[100]

Some specific examples of game software and hardware sales affected by the pandemic include:

  • The 2012 game Plague Inc. by Ndemic Creations had a significant increase in sales as a result of the pandemic. The game temporarily became the top-paid app on several regional app stores, beating out the perennial bestseller Minecraft. Some analysts believed[who?] that those worried about the pandemic used the game to see that it could spread as a means to placate their fears.[101] While the game was based on scientific models of the spread of contagious diseases, Ndemic had to remind the players that the game was not meant to be taken as an accurate model for transmission and spread and referred those interested to the Centers for Disease Control and other national and international health organization websites.[102][103] Ndemic later added a new gameplay mode to Plague Inc, with the goal to try to stop an ongoing pandemic through various possible options by using the work that it developed in coordination with WHO and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network.[104] The company also donated US$250,000 to the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the WHO COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to help fight the pandemic and encouraged the players of the game to do the same.[105]
  • The 2018 digital adaption of Pandemic by Asmodee experienced an increase in sales.[101]
  • Both Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, major AAA titles released in March 2020, outperformed industry expectations, with Animal Crossing selling more in its opening week in the United Kingdom than all of the previous launches in the franchise combined for the same region.[106][98]
  • Ring Fit Adventure, which involves physical activity, was in high demand in China as a result of the quarantine. Sales led to shortages and price gouging in East Asia and nearby regions.[107] Similar shortages for the game expanded as quarantines and stay-at-home orders came to many Western locations during March 2020.[108]
  • Coupled with lowered hardware production, the Nintendo Switch became a high-selling commodity during the pandemic, as it provided entertainment options across all ages, especially with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Nintendo worked to supply as many units as possible globally to most markets, which led to some resellers using bots to scalp.[109] The Switch's high sales helped to offset low sales of other console hardware within the United States and buoy higher revenues for the sector.[99]
  • Among Us rose in popularity through Twitch after streamer Sodapoppin popularised it through the platform in late July 2020.[110][111]
  • Minecraft Dungeons topped Animal Crossing on the North America eShop when they released their new DLC packs: Jungle Awakens and Creeping Winter. They also announced cross-platform features.[112]

Hardware and software releases[]

  • The Evercade handheld console, originally due to release on May 22, 2020, released sometime between May 22 and June 5, 2020.[113]
  • An estimated one-third of developers surveyed in 2020 by the GDC stated that COVID-19 caused a delay of the games they were working on, a combination of the pandemic and the remote working conditions.[114] By 2021, this had increased to 44% by 2021 in a subsequent GDC survey.[115] Some games that were delayed included:
    • The Outer Worlds for Nintendo Switch from March 6 to June 5, 2020[116]
    • Someday You'll Return from April 14 to May 5, 2020[117]
    • Hellpoint from April 16 to July 30, 2020[118][119]
    • Minecraft Dungeons from April to May 26, 2020[120]
    • Trackmania from May 5 to July 1, 2020[121]
    • Marvel's Iron Man VR from May 15 to July 3, 2020[122][123]
    • The Wonderful 101: Remastered physical edition from May 19 to June 30 in North America, and May 22 to July 3, 2020 in Europe[124][125]
    • Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris from May 21 to July 9 in Japan, and May 22 to July 10, 2020, in North America[126]
    • Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Infinite Combat, from early 2020 to August 7, 2020, in Europe, and August 11, 2020 in North America[127][128]
    • Ninjala from May 27 to June 24, 2020[129]
    • Final Fantasy XIV Patch 5.3 from June 16 to August 11, 2020,[130] as well as the game's fourth expansion pack, Endwalker, from Q3 2021 to November 23, 2021[131]
    • Fairy Tail, from June 25 to July 30 in Japan and Europe, and July 31, 2020, in North America[132][133]
    • E-School Life for Nintendo Switch and PS4, from June 25 to July 30, 2020, in Japan[134]
    • Fast & Furious Crossroads, from May to August 7, 2020[135][136]
    • Kiss Trilogy for PS4 and Nintendo Switch from June 25 to August 27, 2020, in Japan[137]
    • Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road from early 2020 to June 22, 2020[138][139]
    • No Straight Roads from June 30 to August 25, 2020[140][141]
    • Ary and the Secret of Seasons from July 28, 2020 to September 1, 2020[142]
    • Death Stranding for PC from June 2 to July 14, 2020[143]
    • Wasteland 3 from May 19 to August 28, 2020[144]
    • The Last of Us Part II from May 29 to June 19, 2020[122][145]
    • Ghost of Tsushima from June 26 to July 17, 2020[146][145]
    • Monster Hunter: World: Iceborne: Title update 4, from May 2020 to July 9, 2020[147][148]
    • Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing, from June 2020 to late 2020 for Oculus Quest, and early 2021 for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, and SteamVR[149]
    • Rock of Ages III: Make & Break from June 2 to July 21, 2020[150]
    • Star Wars Episode I: Racer Remaster for Nintendo Switch and PS4 from May 12 to June 23, 2020[151][152]
    • PHOGS!, from June 2020 to December 3, 2020[153][154]
    • The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope from mid-2020 to October 30, 2020[155][156]
    • Mafia: Definitive Edition from August 28 to September 25, 2020[157]
    • Stronghold: Warlords from September 29, 2020, to January 26, 2021[158]
    • Blue Fire for PS4, Xbox One, and PC from mid-2020 to Q1 2021[159]
    • Kerbal Space Program 2 from late 2020/early 2021 to late 2021[160]
    • Guilty Gear Strive, from late 2020 to April 9, 2021[161][162]
    • Warframe Major Update, called Duviri Paradox, from 2020 to 2021.[163]
    • Halo Infinite from 2020 to 2021.[164]
    • Deathloop from 2020 to September 14, 2021[165]
    • The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe from 2020 to 2021[166][167]
    • Sky: Children of the Light for Nintendo Switch, from 2020 to 2021[168]
    • No More Heroes III from 2020 to 2021[169]
    • Kena: Bridge of Spirits from 2020 to Q1 2021[170]
    • Outriders from late 2020 to April 1, 2021[171]
    • The Medium from December 10, 2020, to January 28, 2021[172]
    • Harvest Moon: One World from 2020 to March 2, 2021, in North America, and March 5, 2021, in Europe[173]
    • The Idolmaster: Starlit Season from 2020 to 2021[174]
    • Digimon Survive from 2020 to 2021.[175] It was then delayed once again into 2022.[176]
    • Seven Knights: Time Wanderer from June 2020[177] to November 5, 2020[178]
    • Monstrum physical edition from May 22, 2020[179] to October 23, 2020[180]
    • Dragon Marked for Death version 3.0 patch for Nintendo Switch from April 21, 2020[181] to April 23, 2020[182]
    • Everyday: Today's Menu for the Emiya Family from May 2020[183] to April 28, 2021[184]
    • Crossfire X from 2020 to 2021[185]
    • Gran Turismo 7 from 2021 to 2022[186]
    • Tales of Arise from 2020 to September 9, 2021[187][188]
    • King of Fighters XV from 2021 to Q1 2022[189]
    • Untitled God of War sequel from 2021 to 2022[190]
    • Ghostwire: Tokyo from Q3 2021 to 2022[191]
    • Just Cause: Mobile from 2021 to 2022[192]
    • Life Is Strange: Remastered Collection from September 10, 2021 to 2022.[193]
  • The following were delayed to unspecified dates:
    • Yumeutsutsu Re:Master and Yumeutsutsu Re:After for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita from April 23, 2020.[194]
    • Far Cry 6 from February 18, 2021[195]
    • Rainbow Six Extraction from 2020.[196] Additionally, the original title of Rainbow Six Quarantine was renamed to avoid association with the pandemic.
    • Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course DLC from 2020[197]
  • Some games also received early releases in certain regions:
    • At GameStop in the United States, Doom Eternal was released a day prior to its release date to separate the crowds from those purchasing Animal Crossing: New Horizons (as both games were officially released on March 20).[198]
    • AFL Evolution 2 was released on April 16, 2020, a week prior to its original release date. To reduce physical contact, physical copies of the game were initially sold through online retailers only.[199]
    • Final Fantasy VII Remake was shipped early to Europe and Australia so the players living in the "countries that are currently facing the biggest disruption" would be able to play the game on its launch day.[200]
  • Some games were cancelled:
    • Deliver Us The Moon for Nintendo Switch, having been scheduled for a mid-2020 release.[201]
    • A major update of Anthem, which was still in development.[202]
    • Doom Eternal's invasion mode was cancelled in favor of a single-player horde mode.[203]
  • Minecraft Earth, which released as early access in October 2019, closed on June 30, 2021.[204]
  • Nvidia's GeForce 30 series of graphics cards immediately sold out upon their release, due largely to a rise in consumer demand for computer hardware during the pandemic, as well as a lack in proper security against scalpers.[205]

Game publishers and developers have expressed concerns that further extensions of the movement control orders from the pandemic may incur additional delays. One major factor that may cause delays is the ability to capture voice acting without access to studios during physical distancing for society, even though some of members have considered working from residence remotely to avoid troubling situations.[1]

Services[]

As much of the world's population have been quarantined due to the pandemic, video game playing and other Internet use has increased significantly. Steam had over 23 million concurrent players during March 2020, surpassing all previous records[206] while over three billion hours of content were watched on Twitch over the first quarter of 2020, a 20% increase from the previous year's.[207] Microsoft reported a substantial increase in users of its Xbox Game Pass service in the months of March and April 2020, bringing it to over 10 million subscribers.[208] GeForce Now capacity was temporarily exhausted in Europe before additional server capacity was added.[209]

The additional bandwidth from video games and other Internet services created concerns that critical bandwidth would not be available for medical and other key infrastructure elements necessary to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2.[210] To help reduce demand during peak hours, the Akamai content delivery network for many video games[211] and major digital storefronts such as Xbox Live,[212] PlayStation Network,[213][214] and Steam[215] capped download speeds and encouraged the users to download at off-peak hours.

During quarantine and lockdown, Ubisoft announced an update for Just Dance 2020 to keep players active:[216] customers who owned the game could access a month of the Just Dance Unlimited service.[216] Ubisoft also announced in its official forum that the second event entitled "Power Gala", which was part of the second season "Feel the Power" in Just Dance 2020, had been postponed.[217] The developer explained that the company wanted to protect its team due to the pandemic, and that "although [their] team still work[ed] hard to make our servers work as smoothly as possible at home", this needed to be resolved by postponing the content.[217] Two tracks from Just Dance Unlimited were made free to make up for the delay.[218]

Retailers[]

  • GameStop and its Canadian subsidiary, EB Games, came under criticism for its overall response to the pandemic. Notably, it received widespread criticism when, after numerous states and provinces issued "stay at home" or "shelter in place" orders requiring non-essential businesses to close up starting in March 2020, it considered its stores an essential business, stating that they provided a "significant need for technology solutions". The chain later revised this decision, closing most locations and leaving only select stores open to provide drive-up delivery of online or by-phone orders to the customers.[219][220][221][222]
  • CeX closed all its corporate stores in the United Kingdom on March 23 and asked the franchises to do the same.[223]
  • Game X Change, a regional game retailer based in Arkansas, attracted criticism for keeping the retail locations open in areas with stay at home orders.[224]

Industry trade bodies[]

The Japanese game ratings body Computer Entertainment Rating Organization was forced to close operations from early April through May 7, and upon reopening, implemented appropriate controls that reduced work hours, which is expected to delay some releases in Japan as they await a rating for retail release.[225][226]

Industry support of mitigation and relief efforts[]

  • Nintendo of America donated 9,500 N95-rated face masks for first responders in the Washington state region in March after their facility was shuttered during Washington's stay-at-home program.[227]
  • Twitch hosted a 12-hour charity stream on March 28, 2020, to raise money for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. The stream featured games, music and sports celebrities playing games like Fortnite and Uno.[228]
  • Several game publishers worked with WHO to support its #PlayApartTogether campaign, encouraging players to continue social engagement in video games via online games instead of through physical means. Eighteen companies initially joined the effort when announced in March 2020, and at least forty more had joined by early April.[2][229][230]
  • Games Done Quick, a charity-driven speedrunning event, had to move its planned June 2020 event due to the pandemic, but instead announced that it will run a fully online "Corona Relief Done Quick" event from April 17 to April 19, 2020, with money raised going to Direct Relief.[231] The event raised over US$400,000.[232]
  • Humble Bundle offered a "Conquer COVID-19 Bundle" of games and e-books from March 31 to April 7, 2020 with all proceeds going to Direct Relief, International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders, and Partners in Health.[233] Over 200,000 bundles were sold raising over US$6.5 million for the charities.[234]
  • The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment worked with the UK's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to push the government's campaign of "Stay Home, Save Lives" into their members' video games that supported dynamic messaging like within in-game menu screens.[235]
  • Former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé and video games journalist Harold Goldberg hosted Talking Games with Reggie and Harold, a seven-part podcast, to raise charitable funds for the New York Video Game Critics Circle to help mentor lower-income and under-served students in New York City impacted by the pandemic.[236]
  • Idea Factory International held an online charity auction of an official Hyperdimension Neptunia illustration by series artist Tsunako. After the auction ended, they donated the money from the auction to help UNICEF USA's effort in fighting the virus.[237]
  • Some game developers and publishers pledged to donate revenue generated by purchases to COVID-19 relief efforts:
    • Rockstar Games donated five percent of revenue generated by in-game purchases in Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online in April and May 2020. Its nine worldwide studios donated to local charities, including City Harvest in London and New York, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation, Boston Museum of Science, Akshaya Patra Foundation, Connecticut Food Bank, National Black Nurses Association, and Black Girls Code.[238]
    • iNK Stories donated 25 percent of the revenue from sales of the Steam version of Fire Escape.[239]

Popular games during the pandemic[]

With the need to stay inside one's home to avoid infection, many gamers flocked to online games as a substitute for social interactions they would otherwise miss. Animal Crossing: New Horizons was especially particular, with people around the world turning to the game's recreation of ordinary daily life activities and social networking features as a substitute for the normalcy disrupted by the pandemic.[240][241][242][243] Fall Guys and Among Us were particularly popular during this time, with the former being released during the pandemic and the latter receiving a surge of popularity.[244][245][246][247] Some non-online games were also thematically compared to the pandemic, such as The Longing.[248] Microsoft Flight Simulator, first released in August 2020, has been considered popular during the pandemic, as many saw it as a safer alternative to traveling.[249][250][251][252]

Notable deaths[]

References[]

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