Due to advisories about self-isolation and “social distancing,” many people are staying home as much as possible amid the coronavirus outbreak. Of course, this leads to boredom. Boredom, then, results in folks partaking in activities they usually don’t have time for, such as gaming. And, man, has gaming boomed over the last several days. In fact, that boom reportedly sits at a 75 percent increase in gaming usage.
Verizon reports that gaming during peak hours of the day has ballooned by a whopping 75 percent in the US. This increase first began building last week due to the quarantine’s going into effect. Video streaming is rising, too, with Verizon noting a 12 percent increase on that particular front. Unsurprisingly, internet traffic continues to spike, courtesy of usage going up by roughly 20 percent. Social media, on the other hand, remains flat in terms of usage.
Kyle Malady, Verizon’s Chief Technology Officer, noted the following about the shift in network consumption,
As we see more and more individuals work from home and students engage in online learning, it is a natural byproduct that we would see an increase in web traffic and access to VPN. And as more entertainment options are cancelled in communities across the U.S., an increase in video traffic and online gaming is not surprising.
To appease high demand, Verizon has engineers closely monitoring network usage throughout each day. Such attentiveness will hopefully allow the company to “adjust resources,” since it fully expects continued fluctuation in peak hour percentages.
The Hollywood Reporter reportedly reached out to multiple gaming publishers for comment. However, none were willing to comment on the matter. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter did speak with the publication, though. According to Pachter, “share prices for game publishers have held up relatively well in the market malaise, so it appears that investors believe people are playing more.”
[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]
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