One might imagine that videogames would be the least affected branch of the entertainment world.
Self-isolating in front of the TV screen does pair well with quarantines.
As such, we think the sector is a (relatively) good place to weather market volatility."
Credit: Square Enix; Remedy Entertainment; Xbox
That’s compared to a 20 percent increase in web traffic and a 12 percent increase in video usage.
The percentage of social media usage remained the same.
Though, he does expect these peak hour percentages to “fluctuate” from week to week.
This broke the previous 10 million three-day record set by last year’sApex Legends.
(A rep for Valve, the company behind Steam, could not be reached immediately to verify.)
The concern doesn’t seem to be about player activity driving down.
It’s already been driving up.
Final Fantasy VII, the highly anticipated remake from Square Enix, is set for release on April 10.
But new precautions from Amazon could potentially hinder the launch plan.
(The game can also be purchased through the Nintendo Switch eShop.)
The game is now currently available to purchase through the store.
Meanwhile, developers are still working to maintain their games, including post-launch content.
Some already took advanced steps to ensure their teams would be able to operate from remote locations.
Remedy Entertainment is one of them.
The majority of the studio has already transitioned into working remotely."
Theres far more to it."
As always, players should keep an eye on our social channels for any news on game updates."
Ubisoft and Rockstar Games also adopted “work-from-home policies,” per respective statements.
Mobile games, however, run into unique challenges.
Because of the coronavirus, certain steps were taken.
The Abra Community Day and weekly raid hours were some of them.
Incense was also made to last for an hour, among other perks.
Developers ofWizards Unitetooksimilar stepsand continued to roll out the 2.11 version of the game on Thursday.
But hit hardest have been gaming conferences and conventions.
Specifics are still to be determined.
Before E3, the Game Developers Conference, planned for March, was also canceled.
“But we do have some super exciting news about PS5.”
A rep for Xbox didn’t have anything to share when reached for comment.
Multiple reps for Sony did not respond to requests for comment.
“There is a strong likelihood one or both systems will not make a 2020 launch.
“Currently the economy is in an unprecedented state of uncertainty.
This article was updated with additional reporting on March 20, 2020.
