Gaming soars as more young people find themselves indoors during the pandemic. Young consumers’ media habits are being clearly impacted by the virus crisis, and according to a Verizon report, gaming has seen a 75% weekly increase since the beginning of March. Twitch saw a 10% surge in viewership, while online gaming platform Stream broke a new record when 20 million logged in at the same time over the weekend. During the same time, Nintendo and Xbox experienced hours-long server outages due to user overload. Even popular mobile games like Pokémon Go are modifying their format so users can play from home, and some developers are offering games for free to encourage young gamers to stay indoors. YPulse’s State of Gaming research found that 73% of 13-36-year-olds were already playing video games weekly. (Polygon)
