What the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Taught Us About the Gaming Industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge effect on the world. As well as causing mass lockdowns, it has also put the brakes on the entertainment industry. Numerous movies have been delayed and television shows ground to a halt. One element, though, that has seemingly been less affected is the gaming industry.

Although some titles were delayed over the course of 2020, the gaming world rolled on. Sony and Microsoft even released next-gen consoles in the form of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. But that doesn’t mean that COVID-19 has not taught us some important things about the gaming industry over the last 12 months. Here is everything we’ve learned about the gaming industry since the global pandemic.

Games are helping researchers combat the virus

Although video games are often seen as nothing but recreational, they have proved to be useful research aids. EVE Online has included mini-games that are based on identifying different cell populations. This has helped researchers analyze how the virus attacks and changes the immune system.

This has also been the case with older titles like World of Warcraft. A digital pandemic called Corrupted Blood that caused widespread carnage in the MMO in 2005 has helped epidemiologists model how viruses can spread. This was especially helpful in terms of modeling how individuals react to quarantine measures.

“What I do is study all the aspects of infectious disease outbreaks that help us prepare for pandemics,” epidemiologist Dr. Nina Fefferman told The Washington Post in April 2020. “We really saw the full gamut of behaviors we see in the real world reflected in the player characters during Corrupted Blood.”

Developers can work from home with little disruption

Despite the fact that many might consider working in the games industry a dream job, that is not always the case. Many developers work unsociable hours, spending huge amounts of time away from their families. This is even more true during crunch phases near to the launch of a game.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that it is certainly possible for many staff to work from home. Although there is some disruption, most games that have utilized remote work have released on time. This could lead to a shift in the gaming industry where developers can spend more time working from home.