How Coronavirus Could Do Irreparable Damage To Gaming
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Though initially creating a boom in gaming, what could the long term damage be for the industry and the medium as a whole?
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Coronavirus has impacted every aspect of daily life.
The immediate impact on gaming culture may seem overall pretty positive – on the surface. More people are spending more time playing games, virtual events are replacing canceled ones, people are streaming more than ever before, and people have been opting to socialize through popular games as well.
Though initially creating a boom in gaming, what could the long term damage be for the industry and the medium as a whole?
The Immediate Effects: They Are Not All Bad
Due to school closures and work from home orders, time that was spent commuting is now free for hobbies. Increased down time for players means more time to spend interacting with video games. Twitch viewership is up at least 15%, and the platform is setting records for all time high volumes of viewers.
Not only do people have more free time, but other places people might go for entertainment are also being shut down. Gaming is replacing other canceled events like the NBA games being replaced by the NBA 2K League. The graduating class of 2020 is coming to terms with the idea that they will not get the opportunity to walk across the stage and collect their diplomas. One alternative grads are considering is to host a graduation ceremony in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
With safety procedures requiring people avoid in person contact, gaming platforms have risen to replace some of these interactions. Discord has relaxed limits on how big screen sharing parties can be to allow, and in a tweet stated,“We know a lot of you around the world are currently using Discord to keep in touch and perform daily tasks from keeping up with classes to working from home. We want to help make your world a little less stressful. We’ll keep this limit up when it’s most critically needed. Please have patience with us as performance issues may arise in streams with a large number of people.” Table top game players who can not gather for game nights, meanwhile, can turn to mobile games to combat social isolation.
The Negative Effects
At the beginning of March, when the virus was first starting to become a fear for those living in the US and there were only 60 confirmed cases in the country, PAX East was held in Boston. Many companies pulled out, including Sony and Facebook. Both companies are in the process of releasing new gaming systems, and still withdrew from participating. At the time, Boston’s mayor Marty Walsh tried to convince these companies, especially Sony, that this was not an appropriate reaction and was disproportionate to the threat the virus posed. He asked them to reconsider their decision to withdraw. PAX East was one of the last large events to be held in the gaming world before all large gatherings were canceled.
E3 has been officially canceled for 2020 – the conference was scheduled for early June at the Los Angeles Convention Center. When the news first came out that E3 was canceled, there were widespread rumors that they would hold a virtual event instead. However, this was dismissed as false by a representative for ESA. As of now, E3 is scheduled to happen again in 2021, but developers have already missed out on a valuable opportunity to showcase their works to the public and network with other creators and industry professionals. There is no telling how many opportunities for growth and development were hindered because of canceled industry events.
This cancellation could be an opportunity, granted. For the past decade, gaming conferences have not been the important environment they once were, and this could be the time to reset and reimagine what E3 and other conventions should be. One possibility is the erasure of trade shows, which each company holding their own events. Microsoft and Ubisoft are both planning to organize their own digital events to replace canceled conventions.
Long Term Damage
While large companies are able to organize their own events, and have successful online presences, there is no question they will continue to grow their markets. The real risk when conventions shut down falls on small developers and indie games, who are losing their opportunity to network and market their products. This could mean a future with a true oligopoly in the gaming industry, which would prevent competition leading to new developments and variety in games.
Another fear going forward is interruptions in hardware production and testing. With coronavirus shutting down factories, and forcing production of necessities first, there is a real chance there will be a shortage of new gaming hardware.
The Oculus Quest is currently out of stock, and Facebook stopped taking new orders for the virtual reality system. A Facebook representative stated, “Oculus Quest has been selling out in some regions due to high demand. That said, like other companies we’re expecting some additional impact to our hardware production due to the Coronavirus. We’re taking precautions to ensure the safety of our employees, manufacturing partners and customers, and are monitoring the situation closely. We are working to restore availability as soon as possible.”
This could affect other publishers, of course, and spell a shortage of video game systems, controllers, and other hardware.
This had the potential to affect PS5 release. As of now, Sony plans to be selling the PS5 by December 2020. PS4 units were mostly made in August and September for a November release, so if production is still affected by October, there is a good chance we will see a delay in PS5’s release or a shortage when it is available for sale.
Right now we can only predict what the long term effects of this crisis on gaming will be. But in the wake of fear and uncertainty, we have seen a community that is growing in numbers, and making strides to take care of each other.
Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/coronavirus-gaming-damage/