COVID-19 On Game Development - More Time, Less Games

A global pandemic - we've all seen the memes where the gaming community simply laughs off claims of other people not being able to adapt to the 'indoor world' with clever comments like 'we've been prepared for this moment' and related comments. In this article, I look to take a closer look at the relationship between COVID-19 and gaming thanks to some recent figures which have emerged and offered certain insights. 

First off, we'll start with the most obvious outcome due to the confinement to our sofas - there has been a noticeable increase in the number of people gaming and the amount of time spent doing so too. A study carried out by the NPD Group offered the following conclusions alongside those we're interested in: 

• America has seen an increase of 32 million gamers, 'people who play videogames' since 2018
• Time played has also changed as follows per week - Less than 5 hours (-8%), 5-15 hours (+30%) and over 15 hours (+6%)
• Number of gamers using more than one platform to game (+6%)
• 35% of gamers played more during the pandemic

Some interesting facts here and above - the one which I found most interesting is the trend in which gamers are spending more time doing what they love. With regards to the pandemic, it's interesting to note that certain games made the most of the isolation, as the community witnessed the success of both Call of Duty Warzone and Animal Crossing: New Horizons as examples of games which were released perfectly in time.

While that serves as the 'good news', there is a bit of 'bad news' which the industry will have to endure. A survey conducted by the Game Developers Conference has yielded the shocking figure that roughly one-third of developers have come out to say that game production has been delayed due to COVID-19. 

Many of the developers in the survey commented on a tangible loss of creativity, increase in stress, lack of productivity and also, a decrease in pay too. A popular example is CD Project Red's delaying of Cyberpunk 2077, but the list goes on to other titles and others which are yet unannounced and will remain that way for longer. 

Just like films, series and other forms of media, production of games has been temporarily impacted by COVID-19 - however, as we slowly come out from the crisis, the industry looks to bounce back through support from the community. 

Although we'll have to wait longer for new titles, I think we can all happily say that it is a blessing to be a gamer during these difficult times.