During COVID, People Turn to Gaming, Should Brands?

Why do we [class] gaming as this niche platform, where anti-social people in their basements are playing games, when in fact there are billions of people playing casual games across the world?” – Greg Carroll, Activision Blizzard

Are you trying to find a sense of community, social community during the time of isolation? You wouldn’t be the only one! According to the latest App Annie report, as more people are spending time at home during COVID, there has been a significant increase of about 15% of time spent on apps (Hutchison, 2020; Venkatraman, 2020). The gaming category has been the largest driver of downloads MoM along with business apps, Zoom and Skype to name a couple (Venkatraman, 2020). Gaming sites of the world such as IGN, Gamespot, and Zynga have seen a 40% increase in site traffic! There has also been a surge in gaming console usage and Twitch, has seen a live streaming spike of about 15% (Taylor, 2020).

• Gaming includes mobile apps, console and desktop
• The gaming industry is expected to reach $180.1 billion in revenue by 2021
• There are more than 2.5 billion video gamers around the world
• The average gamer is 34 years old
• 70% of gamers are age 18 or older
• 67% of parents play video games with their child at least once a week
• 60% of Americans play video games daily
• 45% of US gamers are women
• 70% of parents believe video games have a positive influence on their children’s lives

So, should brands think about expanding their target?

I believe there’s an opportunity that brands can capitalize and speak to their audience, or better yet, speak to a new audience they never knew they had. With site traffic increase and more people are spending time at home, brands can target these consumers.

Is there going to be a decline after COVID? Perhaps, but brands should learn to be reactive and adapt to new market trends, and quickly, to remain relevant.