With 2020 consumed almost entirely by the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of US residents turned to video games to fill the time. According to the year 2020 in review by the company Nielsen SuperData, 55% of people took video games – because of boredom, to escape the real world, to socialize – during the first phase of the blockades.
The shift points to a bigger shift in entertainment. Cinemas, sports, plays and much more have been largely inaccessible, if not entirely dangerous to public health. Just as streaming, from both Twitch and Netflix, has become a great source of entertainment, so have games – especially for adults. According to SuperData, 66% of consumers aged 18 to 24 played more console games, while 60% played more mobile titles. Unsurprisingly, buyers also tended towards digital purchases.
SuperData reports that 27 percent of people – about 1 in 4 – played to keep in touch with each other. In 2020, games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Among us have become cultural landmarks. Cross between animals was The hit the early pandemic while Among us had almost half a billion players in November alone. Politicians like Joe Biden and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have capitalized on their popularity to raise awareness for the presidential election of the year. Up until Pokémon Go managed to adapt to the pandemic and grow 39% year after year, thanks to updates from Niantic.
As physical spaces disappeared, video games became one of the few places for people to spend time together – whether to enjoy virtual shows in Fifteen days, learn to vote or just spend time. SuperData estimates that digital games alone raised $ 126.6 billion over the year. The numbers may not soar this year as much as in 2020, but SuperData predicts that “the long-term habits formed during the blockade are here to stay”.