Dubai, UAE – August 6th, 2020 – The evolution of the gaming sector has been considerable over the course of the past few months following the global outbreak of Covid-19, and while many industries have struggled to cope with the impact of the virus, this particular field has thrived.
Realistically, we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, with millions around the world unable to leave their homes for a sustained period, inevitably people began to look for indoor entertainment avenues.
But why has gaming, in particular, proved to be so popular during this period?
The answer, in short, is a combination of two factors – entertainment and interaction.
Sitting around at home with nothing to do can quickly become very boring but gaming, as well as providing a form of escapism during such a tough time, has kept people engaged and given them something to focus on.
More importantly, though, the online element of gaming has provided a huge source of companionship for some of those people who live alone over the course of the last few months.
Ironically, gaming was once viewed as a particularly anti-social pastime, but the tide has now turned to such an extent that the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the #PlayApartTogether campaign shortly after the Covid-19 outbreak in order to encourage people to stay at home and entertain themselves, while at the same time flattening the curve and saving lives.
Hani Suwwan is the Business Development Manager – Middle East & North Africa for HyperX, one of the world’s leading gaming equipment manufacturer’s, and he spoke about the impact of Covid-19 on both usage and sales.
“According to data retrieved from PC gaming platform, Steam, who had an all-time high record for concurrent users in April, their numbers reached over 20 million,” he said. “This was the first time that the platform has recorded more than 20 million users at once, and 6.4 million gamers were recorded playing at the same time.
“Within the UAE, it is more apparent that players stream more often and frequently. There is also a community of gamers, such as YouTuber Facilely, who ran his own Rocket League Tournament, within lockdown, showing a new generation of gaming.
“On average, HyperX sales have risen by 25 per cent, and this has been encouraged through online sales, in particular headset sales, which has created sell-outs and a higher demand.
“Data from Google searches shows more and more people are looking for comfortable durable headsets due to working from home. This has bolstered Hyper X headset sales as we are known for our innovative headsets – in particular, our Cloud headsets have seen a spike in sales.”
An increase in the popularity of esports has also contributed to the overall performance of the gaming industry during the Covid-19 pandemic. When global sports events were put on hold in March, an opportunity opened up to provide fans with their sporting fix, albeit in a slightly different way.
Formula 1 led the way by hosting virtual Grands Prix, Premier League footballers went head-to-head on FIFA and this year’s Grand National, one of the world’s most famous horse races, was a digital event. There were countless other examples across the globe.
Of course, a number of scheduled esports events which would have hosted big crowds were cancelled due to social distancing rules, but the fact many of the major global sports leagues turned to the sector as a unique way of engaging fans – as well as attracting new ones – during the crisis has only served to enhance its growing reputation.
A recent study carried out by Strategy & Middle East, which is part of the PwC network, found that the GCC gaming market is evolving at such an intense speed, it could potentially be worth $821 million by 2021, an increase of $128 million since 2017.
An estimated 2.5 billion people globally now play video games, while in the UAE alone the report found that the median number of hours spent playing video games every week has now reached 14.
There is no doubt that the gaming industry has benefited from the global lockdown in recent months, but as the world attempts to revert to some kind of normality, Suwwan expects to see the high industry figures of late take on a slightly more familiar look over the next few months.
“The lockdown restrictions have enabled people to reconnect with old passions daily, and therefore gaming has advanced massively,” he said.
“However, the concept has remained the same, switching off and enabling people to immerse themselves with friends, family or strangers in a fun, online activity.
“Once people incorporate this into their daily routines we predict gaming activity to remain present, but perhaps we will see a decrease in playing time, as and when people return to their work places.