Due to the epidemic of coronavirus COVID-2019 in China, there has been a sharp jump in user spending on video games and new records are breaking in terms of the amount of time online. Beijing-based artist Jansky Lee shared his observations on how the virus affects the gaming industry.
Lee explains the sharp increase in interest in video games with the leisure restrictions imposed by COVID-2019. Residents of China are now trying to spend more time at home, and all the money that was previously spent on going to the cinema or meeting with friends goes to pay for subscriptions or the purchase of game items.
Activity chart in one of the Chinese MMORPGs available on Steam
For the Chinese New Year period, Tencent’s MOBA called Honor of Kings broke the record for daily revenue – in total, users spent over 2 billion yuan ($ 300 million) in the game. In 2019, it amounted to 1.3 billion yuan over the same period.
The console market is also growing. Taobao online store reported a shortage of consoles and games – warehouses were empty for a week. At the same time, the retailer is not shy about raising prices. In the American Amazon, the Ring Fit Adventure kit costs $ 124, and in Taobao – about 1.5 thousand yuan ($ 214).
The cost of the Ring Fit Adventure kit in Taobao
During the holidays, many game companies go to meet users in order to protect them from the coronavirus. The creators of MMORPG Nishuihan allowed all users to play for free, and Blizzard launched open days in Overwatch – everyone can try the shooter.
Promotion in Nishuihan
The authors of the hentai game Mirror launched a charity event in which Chinese citizens can get a free copy. To do this, go to the official website and verify the phone number.
Local and overseas game publishers are helping the Chinese government fight the epidemic. Companies such as Tencent Games, Smilegate, IGG, AMD and even Wargaming.net donate money to charity funds fighting the infection.
To protect their employees from infection, game publishers oblige them to work remotely. Large companies like Tencent and NetEase will open offices on February 17, but small studios have switched to remote work on February 3.
The empty street of Wangfujing – the most passage location in Beijing
According to Lee, this type of work will not hurt artists and designers of 3D models, but it can be difficult for people who need to communicate with several departments at once.
The COVID-2019 outbreak was first detected in Wuhan in December 2019. As of February 13, 60 thousand cases of infection were recorded, over 1.3 thousand died and more than 6 thousand recovered. Due to the epidemic in the United States, Chinese embassies were closed, as a result of which the teams selected for ESL One Los Angeles 2023 will not be able to get visas. Read more about this here.
