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3 in 10 Brits Have Skipped a Shower or a Meal to Play Video Games in Lockdown

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More Brits than ever played video games last year to beat the boredom of staying home, and our third lockdown in 2021 has seen the trend gain even more traction. With games being released on more platforms, and more genres than ever now is an excellent time to be a gamer!

Fresh Student Living took a deep dive into the gaming industry in the UK to see just what an impact Covid has had on gaming.

More than four in ten UK gamers say they’ve been gaming more during the COVID-19 outbreak (43%). Plus, UK gamers now make up over two thirds of the population (67%); six in ten of this group say they play mobile games (52%); a quarter PC games (25%); and three in ten console games (28%).

When the pandemic first put a stop to everyday life, the gaming world expanded with regular players putting in even more time, and new people joining the trend to connect with friends, kill time and indulge in much-needed escapism. As more people picked up controllers, the UK gaming population exploded by a whopping 63%! People reported feeling happier and calmer, with a higher sense of freedom, thanks to how immersive the best video games are.

The Average Gamer Spent the Equivalent of 39 Days Playing Last Year

Games like FIFA 21, Call of Duty, Animal Crossing and Last of Us were some of the most played games of 2020, with 3 in 10 people skipping showers and meals to play uninterrupted. Almost 6 in 10 Brits also admit to losing sleep due to gaming sessions.

Pre lockdown, the average gamer spent around 13 hours a week playing their favourites. This increased by 5 hours during lockdown with Brits spending 18 hours or more exploring new worlds online – that’s equivalent to 39 whole days spent gaming!

The average gamer usually sets aside a conservative 1-3 hours to play, but in the UK, at least 3% of the population confesses to playing for 15 hours or more in one sitting.

What Video Games is Everyone Playing?

Most Played Video Games of 2020 According to Units Sold

FIFA 21 dominated in 2020 as one of the most anticipated games in the UK, with around 14 games selling per second in the UK last year.

  1. FIFA 21 (2.18 million)
  2. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (1.4 million)
  3. Grand Theft Auto 5 (1.1 million)
  4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (800,000)
  5. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (660,000)
  6. The Last of Us Part II (530,000)
  7. NBA 2K20 (480,000)
  8. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (430,000)

More Brits Are Hooked on Video Games

Lockdown has given us all more time to kill, and today the split between male and female video gamers is strictly 50-50. In the UK, 54% of men and women play a game most days, lowering stress and connecting with others being two of the primary motivators.

Multiplayer Games Keep us Connected

With time to kill and social distancing in effect for most of last year, multiplayer games’ popularity soared as more people jumped online to chat and connect. Even ex-gamers again picked up their controllers to join online communities playing games like Call of Duty, Animal Crossing or Fortnite.

Unsurprisingly, lockdown saw most Brits opt for action-packed and interactive genres, with most gamers choosing fighting, action and huge multiplayer Battle Royale games with lots of other players!

Most played genres in 2020

  • Fighting – 81%
  • Action – 79%
  • Massively multiplayer online games – 78%
  • Multiplayer online battle arena games – 75%

The Rise of Covideogamers in 2021

Lockdown has massively changed the gaming community across the world. In the UK, younger gamers spend loads of time playing while self-isolating and spend around two hours a month watching other people play online – a pastime that has increased since lockdown began.

The pandemic has also created a whole new subgenre of gamers known as Covideogamers, who exclusively started gaming during lockdown. Compared to 36% of existing gamers between the ages of 18 – 34, Covideogamers now make up 46% of the population in the same age group – 35% of these new gamers have also admitted it’s so relaxing and stress-relieving, they’re going to start playing more, long after lockdown ends!

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EGT Digital

EGT Digital Brings Operators the Ultimate Advantage Ahead of the World Cup

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Having the World Cup on the horizon, sportsbook operators are once again preparing for the intense demands that come with peak sporting activity, including surging traffic, increased betting volume, and sustained operational pressure.

EGT Digital’s Sportsbook enables Operators to navigate high-demand periods with stability, flexibility, and control.

Major sports events do not introduce new challenges. They amplify existing ones. Platform performance is tested, trading teams operate under pressure, and retention becomes just as critical as acquisition.

Performance When It Matters Most

EGT Digital’s Sportsbook is designed to perform when expectations are the highest. Built on cloud-native best practices and out-of-the-box scalability, our solution empowers operators to manage peak traffic and continuous activity while ensuring stability and reliability.

Turning Traffic into Long-Term Value

While major events drive player acquisition, long-term value depends on retention. Sportsbook equips operators with a fully configurable set of promotional tools designed to sustain engagement during high-activity periods without adding operational complexity.

Features such as Adjustable Margins, Boosted Bet Builders, Dynamic Parlays, Progressive Jackpot, Early Payouts, Acca Insurance, Price Boosts, and Free Bets give operators the flexibility to tailor campaigns in real time according to player behavior and market dynamics.

Built with automation in mind, the system allows precise control across player segments, sports, and events – helping operators transform traffic spikes into sustained player loyalty.

Flexible Trading, Controlled Risk

High-volume events place trading operations under constant pressure. EGT Digital’s Sportsbook supports both managed and hybrid trading models, giving Operators the flexibility to choose the level of control and support that best fits their business.

Teams are able to manage risk effectively, protect margins, and stay focused without sacrificing the players experience and expectations even during the most demanding schedules and fixtures.

Your Brand, Your Rules.

With EGT Digital’s Next Gen AI CMS, operators can seamlessly manage every aspect of their Sportsbook’s look and behavior, tailoring the experience to specific markets without relying on one-size-fits-all solutions.

One Platform Across Channels

Player behaviour during major events is fluid, with customers moving between Online and Retail environments. EGT Digital’s Sportsbook provides a unified experience across channels, delivering one platform and one operational view.

The post EGT Digital Brings Operators the Ultimate Advantage Ahead of the World Cup appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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FIRST.bet

FIRST.bet Launches UltraCup: A Player-Engagement Engine for the World Cup

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FIRST.bet introduces UltraCup: a single destination that keeps players engaged across the entire World Cup – live group standings, knockout brackets, tournament Outrights, Blind Bets on matchups before they’re even drawn, and automatic Bet Builder boosts in the slip. Everything fans need to follow and bet the tournament in one place, from the first whistle to the last.

FIRST.bet, the Tier 1 sportsbook technology provider, today launched UltraCup, a World Cup-focused sportsbook engine built to help operators own the biggest betting event in football.

The next World Cup is not a short tournament spike. It is 48 teams, 104 matches and one continuous peak with no recovery window. UltraCup is built for that reality, giving operators a complete tournament destination that keeps players engaged from the opening group match through to the final.

UltraCup connects the full World Cup betting journey in one place: live group standings, tournament-context match listings, bracket navigation from R32 to the final, dynamic outrights, Blind Bets on future matchups and automatic Bet Builder boosts inside the bet slip.

Tom Light, Founder and CEO of FIRST.bet, said:
“The World Cup is the one moment when every football fan is watching, betting and hunting for somewhere to follow it all – and most sportsbooks lose that player to a dozen rival apps. UltraCup keeps the entire tournament in one place: live standings, knockout brackets, Outrights, automatic boosts and Blind Bets on matchups that haven’t even been drawn yet. Operators capture that attention from the opening whistle and hold it all the way to the final.”

At the heart of UltraCup is a dedicated World Cup hub that mirrors how fans follow the competition. Players can track group tables, move through the knockout bracket, bet on tournament-wide markets such as Champion and Top Scorer, and engage with odds that shift dynamically as the tournament unfolds.

The product also introduces Blind Bets, allowing players to bet on future World Cup matches before the final matchup is confirmed. This turns tournament progression into the betting mechanic itself, creating suspense and repeat engagement across every stage.

UltraCup also includes Auto Boost Builder, which applies automatic odds boosts to qualifying Bet Builders directly inside the bet slip. Operators can configure boosts by sport, tournament, or league, and customer segment, with instant enable or disable controls and boost tiers of any percentage desired.

UltraCup also introduces the Welcome Bonus Boost, a new feature that allows operators to create boosted odds promotions exclusively for new customers who have not yet placed a bet. The mechanic targets the critical first-bet moment, giving operators a targeted tool to convert new registrations into active players during the tournament.

While UltraCup is being launched with a clear World Cup focus, the framework is built to live beyond one tournament. FIRST will extend the same journey into major league and tournament formats across football and other sports, giving operators a reusable engagement engine for the biggest moments on the calendar.

FIRST.bet powers 75+ live operators, 100+ partners and millions of daily transactions across LatAm, Europe and Africa. The company was named ‘Sportsbook Supplier of the Year’ at the SBC Awards 2025 and EGR LATAM Awards 2025, and ‘Best Sportsbook Provider’ at BiS SiGMA South America 2026.

About FIRST.bet

FIRST – Best in Sports is a Tier 1 sportsbook technology provider powering 75+ operators globally, including leading brands among Brazil’s top 20 by GGR. Founded by former SBTech leaders, FIRST delivers a fully managed, high-performance sportsbook engineered for speed, scale and precision across LatAm, Europe and Africa. The company holds licences from the Malta Gaming Authority and the Swedish Gambling Authority, and is GLI-33 certified and ISO-audited. FIRST was named ‘Sportsbook Supplier of the Year’ at the SBC Awards 2025 and EGR LATAM Awards 2025, ‘Best Sportsbook Provider’ at BiS SiGMA South America 2026, and received the ‘Individual Achievement Award’ at the EGR Awards 2026.

The post FIRST.bet Launches UltraCup: A Player-Engagement Engine for the World Cup appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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1win

Crypto Platform 1win Welcomes Ilia Topuria as the 1win VIP Community Member

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Mexico City, Mexico, June 3rd, 2026, PlayNewswire

The international crypto entertainment platform 1win has announced the addition of Ilia Topuria to its VIP community. The signing of the contract with the fighter became publicly known on June 2, 2026.

Topuria becomes a new member of the global 1win VIP Community, the brand’s exclusive project that brings together prominent figures from sports, music, and entertainment industries. One of the most dominant fighters of his generation, Topuria remains undefeated with a professional MMA record of 17 wins and 0 losses. His excellence in sport will become a unique asset and source of inspiration for other 1win members.

The collaboration between a globally recognized brand and one of MMA’s most unstoppable fighters promises exclusive moments for fans, a closer look into the lifestyle of a true 1win VIP member, and a wave of premium entertaining content for international audiences. The expansion of the project highlights the international scale of the initiative and further strengthens 1win’s position as a brand operating at the intersection of sports, digital culture, and entertainment. Previously, famous rapper Tyga had also joined the VIP community.

On June 14, Topuria takes part in one of the year’s most highly anticipated fights – UFC Freedom 250 – a bout against Justin Gaethje that will take place during the UFC tournament at the White House. The upcoming fight has already generated significant attention from the MMA community and sports media worldwide.

1win is also widely known for its collaborations with MMA representatives and professionals in the sports industry. The brand’s ambassadors include legendary UFC fighter Jon Jones, Olympic champion and UFC fighter Gable Steveson, and Latin American athlete Ignacio Bahamondes.

About 1win

Founded in 2016, 1win is a crypto-focused platform in the global gaming industry. Operating across Asia, Latin America, and Africa, 1win offers a wide range of entertainment products adapted to regional audiences. The brand has active collaborations with international public figures, including actor Johnny Sins, martial artist Jon Jones, and Olympic champion and UFC fighter Gable Steveson. In 2026, 1win welcomed American rapper Tyga as a new member of the 1win VIP community.

Contact

Press Office

1win

[email protected]

The post Crypto Platform 1win Welcomes Ilia Topuria as the 1win VIP Community Member appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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