The Chinese video game industry is making a splash thanks to the corona virus

Typically, the Lunar New Year falls in January or February every year. This is the occasion for Chinese gamers to have more time to immerse themselves in the passion thanks to the holiday that lasts more than a week. This year, the outbreak of Covid-19 coincided with the occasion of Chinese people celebrating the New Year, and local governments had to decide to extend the time off, even more than 3 weeks in some provinces and cities, making millions of people already have time, they have more time.

The Covid-19 epidemic, which broke out from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, in December, was very dangerous, now has claimed the lives of more than 1,500 people and infected more than 60,000 people. The majority of deaths and infections come from mainland China.

Unable to leave home these days, Chinese people tend to do everything through the internet.

' During the New Year, we often stay at home. Because of the outbreak of the disease, we kept the house out, 'said Zhanchao Yang, 24, who lives in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. He is working for a construction company, and in the past few weeks, he shared that he spent more time playing games.

Yang returned to his home town in Kaifeng City, Henan Province, when the holiday season began. After returning to Dongguan, he was required to stay home in isolation for 14 days before starting work. Only residents of Guangdong Province, who do not travel to other localities during the holiday season, are allowed to work from 9 February.

' This holiday is too long, ' he said. He also shared that his salary is not affected because he can work from home during this isolation.

Tencent's 'Honor of Kings' hit a record for players in late January and early February, according to Niko Partners, a gaming market research firm in Asia.

' It was the plague caused by the Covid-19 virus that caused gamers to spend more time at home than participating in other outside activities. That gives them more time to play the games , '' Niko said in a report.

The company added that the number of game downloads as well as the revenue from games will increase in the next few weeks, when the Tet holiday is long, even some cities have regulations banned. go.

While the epidemic caused many e-sport events to be canceled, at the same time, disrupting the production of handheld gaming devices and 'home-based' online gaming activities. Total downloads of games on the App Store app market in China increased by 27.5% over the previous year, and publisher revenue increased by 12.1%, according to market research firm Sensor Tower.

Yang recounted that when he returned to Kaifeng, he often played games with relatives and friends when he was free. Now, he stays at home all day with his family.

' I have almost nothing to do in the evening. I often play 'Peacekeeper Elite' with you. We meet up to play at the same time, 'Yang said.

On online platforms in China, games like 'Honor of Kings', 'Playerunknown's Battlegrounds' (PUBG) and 'League of Legends' have become twice as popular during the holiday season, compared to 2019. 'Honor of Kings' is the most popular game on Douyu in this year's New Year dip, with viewership up to 63 million, much higher than the number of 31.7 million views, which is a record number that PUBG was achieved during the holiday season last year.

Douyu's headquarters is located in Wuhan City, the epicenter of this epidemic. The company's stock price has plummeted since late January when it announced it was facing difficulties because employees were unable to return to work, according to Niko.

Many video game companies immediately took action to cope with the epidemic this time through either extending or launching promotions. Some games have even changed their business model, free for players when making in-game purchases, according to information from Omdia, a technology research company.

' Anyone who wants to take advantage of this time to attract a new pool of players who have a lot of free time at home, ' said Louise Shorthouse, an app and game market analyst at Omdia. .

" Gamers of this generation seem to be getting used to free games, so removing the cost burden when playing games can attract more younger people ."

Yang says he usually spends about 100 yuan ($ 14) a year playing games. But he says there are many people who are 'more' than me.

'My friend spends even more, about 3,000 to 4,000 yuan a year .' This is equivalent to 430 to 570 USD.

Jiahui Wang, 25, secretary of a raw material supply company in Beijing, returned home in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, during the New Year and did not bring a laptop.

' I thought I would stay in my hometown for 7 days so bring my smartphone only. With the phone, I play Peacekeeper Elite ', she said. She will only be able to return to work next week after 14 days of self-isolation. Therefore, she has come to the game as an effective way to kill time ".

' I stay at home all the time. Sometimes, I feel so boring. Therefore, I found some simple games , 'she shared.

Gamers in China look to titles to help ease the psychology of the city, when many cities are blocked, and most workers are forced to work from home. They were only allowed to go out to buy supplies, but were also required to wear masks and goggles.

Wen said he recently played more games than usual, including 'Honor of Kings', 'Peacekeeper Elite' and Nitendo Switch titles.

Wang often uses WeChat to talk to friends at home, but she said games are a better option for communicating.

' Because we stay at home all day, talking topics are sometimes very limited. We sometimes have nothing left to say to each other. But if we play games together, we will have more topics to talk to. It's not a bad way to keep in touch with close people '.