10 Recent Truths About Gaming We've Just Learned
7. Gaming Is Affected By The Wuhan Coronavirus In Surprising Ways
There's a lot of fear and concern around the world as 2020 kicks off, thanks to the arrival of the Wuhan Coronavirus. Without going into too much detail, it's easily transferred from person-to-person, presents as an upper respiratory infection, and it's killing a large portion of the people who caught it.
With an outbreak comes panic, and while China has locked down and quarantined the areas where the virus first started, there are plenty of places still safe in the country. Despite this, Overwatch League canceled its February and March matches in China because of the virus.
There was another recent effect brought on by the Wuhan Coronavirus, which could arguably be called positive. UK studio Ndemic Creations' hit game Plague Inc. has seen a massive bump in its sales as a result of the spread of the virus. Figures are showing increased sales around the world, but the biggest spike in sales is stemming from China, which saw it become the best-selling-app in that country on January 29th.
The studio made a point to mention the game wasn't related to, nor could it help to study the spread of the Coronavirus. James Vaughn, the creator of the game, released a statement, which in part read:
"Plague Inc. has been out for eight years now, and whenever there is an outbreak of disease, we see an increase in players....However, please remember that Plague Inc. is a game, not a scientific model and that the Coronavirus is a very real situation which is impacting a huge number of people."