Kids and adults alike flock online gaming platforms to beat corona lockdown boredom

Just a couple of months ago, videogames like PUBG were regarded as a threat to society to be addictive, and were banned in states such as for example Gujarat. However now, the ‘war’ game joins family favourites such as Ludo to become welcome entertainment in the home amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Unable to go out and play or check out the malls, bored kids and adults alike are hopping to online gaming platforms to kill time. There's been a 30% surge in online traffic till last week, says Saumya Singh Rathore, Co-Founder of WinZO Games.

WinZO is a gaming platform catering to Tier 2- Tier 5 cities in India in a lot more than 10 regional languages. It hosts multiple free games such as for example Ludo, Pool, Carrom, Bubble Shooter and PUBG Mobile where users compete instantly to win prizes.

A microtransaction-based platform, WinZO earns earnings by offering users virtual goods for small online payments. An average microtransaction involves buying a supplementary ‘life’ to keep playing after you’ve exhausted your existing ‘lives’, exchanging cash for boosters to arm your gun or paying to load up additional points, to gain an advantage over other players.

Winzo offers its games free of charge for the very first time. “This is an effort to support the audience with social gaming through the lockdown,” Rathore says.

What has been astonishing, Rathore says, is that almost all of the logins in the last three weeks have already been from metro and Tier one cities, whereas WinZO is particularly focused toward gamers in Tier 2-Tier3 cities, having been founded as a vernacular gaming platform.

Suruchi Kamath, an operating mother in the city, says it has turned into a daunting task to keep carefully the children engaged while also working at home. Opting for online flash games is “essential” as it helps keep the kids safe at home, from the chance of catching the coronavirus, while keeping them occupied and busy, she says.

The trend of folks playing online games is merely growing. “WinZO saw demand rise 40% this week,” Rathore says, “and it is up three times in comparison with a normal day.”

Mahesh Kashyap, a techie says, the lockdown is the foremost time to inculcate reading habits in children. However they need incentives like online gaming to keep them occupied and motivated towards reading. Kids choose according to their preference, Kashyap says, from the host of online flash games available.

It’s not merely India that's witnessing an enormous jump in gaming activities, Italy has also seen a 70% rise in online gaming during the lockdown. Globally, online multiplayer games have become a lot more popular, especially with adults.

Call of Duty: Warzone, which is self-described as a “mature” game with “blood and gore, make use of drugs, intense violence, strong language and suggestive themes”, accrued as many as 30 million players in just 10 days, the developers tweeted on March 20.

A written report on consumer spending and transactions (a weekly report on the impact of COVID-19 on the consumer economy in america) published on 25 March 2020 by Facteus Insight, says that shelling out for video gaming (both online and offline) commenced to surge in the week of March 9 and has truly gone up, year on year, over 60% in the week of March 16, 2020, Vox Markets UK reported.

WinZO too caters to a far more global audience with Tencent’s PUBG and Garena’s Free Fire.

What’s more, WinZO has partnered with Tencent Games India to host PUBG Mobile tournaments. Entry is free and players stand to win prizes of over Rs1 crore a month.