Online Gaming on the Rise During the Pandemic

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(Newswire.net — January 27, 2021) — Something that has grown in popularity during the COVID crisis is online gaming. The main reason for this is that games are one of the few forms of entertainment available to people that are in lockdown. We’ve taken a close look at why people have moved towards everything from AAA online titles to browser-based games to enjoy themselves. 

Online casinos

Online casinos are an area that has seen excellent levels of growth during the pandemic. In fact, online gambling in general has seen significant growth over the course of the last year. That is partly because players have had a lot more time on their hands and have needed ways to keep entertained. Because they don’t have the ability to go out and spend their disposable income at bars or in stores, they have been spending it at online casinos instead.

Online casinos offer players the ability to enjoy a wide range of different casino games. There’s everything from video slots to table games. There is also the ability to enjoy live dealer casino games, which involve a live video feed providing players with the ability to really immerse themselves in the game. Using sites such as BonusSeeker also enables you to play sweeps cash casinos for real prizes, so the overall options that are on offer are much greater than ever before.

Of course, this increase in online gambling has led to much more robust calls for responsible gambling measures to be put in place. With most online casinos offering a number of responsible gambling warnings and on-site measures to protect players, this is something that is being taken seriously by the industry. 

Among Us

Among Us was probably the breakout hit of 2020. It saw people trying to get some escapism from the horrors that were taking place in the world, and get into some simple but addictive online gaming fun. There are two main reasons that Among Us became such a hit for players. The first was that it was available on a large number of different platforms, with cross-platform play available. It was on Android, iOS and Steam almost from the start. This was soon followed up by a Switch release and both Xbox One and Series X/S releases are soon to come. It means that large numbers of players were able to enjoy the game and could play against their friends without having to worry about being on different devices. 

The second main reason was that the game was so simple to start playing. It was essentially a game where players work together to carry out tasks in order to get a ship flying again. However, one, or sometimes two, of the players on the ship are imposters. They will go around sabotaging tasks and sometimes even murdering other players. At the end of each round, all of the players have to try and work out who the imposter is. It’s almost like an interactive Agatha Christie novel. This has ensured that the game has become a global hit. It’s a game that has helped players get through the boredom that lockdown life has created.

Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing has long been a game that has grabbed the attention of players around the world. Even in past iterations on older generations of consoles, it has been hugely popular. However, the latest Switch release of the game has captured the imagination of lots of players. While a lot of it is due to the quality of the game itself, the pandemic has provided almost a perfect storm for the game to thrive. 

Animal Crossing is more than just a world-building game. What it also has is a very well-defined social aspect. So, it’s allowed people to carry out virtual meetings with their friends in a fun environment. While it obviously doesn’t provide the same experience as actually getting to see people, because of how social interaction has been almost completely cut off by the pandemic, for some people it’s the next best thing. Players have been able to organize parties and other fun activities in their Animal Crossing games. It’s given people a link to the outside world at a time when it’s truly been needed. 

Of course, the game is a good one as well. If it was just the social aspect of the game that was well made, then players would just use chat rooms and messenger apps. The fact that Animal Crossing has been able to do this inside an excellent game has given people a little bit of brightness in an otherwise dark year.