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3 in 10 Brits Have Skipped a Shower or a Meal to Play Video Games in Lockdown
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.
- FIFA 21 (2.18 million)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (1.4 million)
- Grand Theft Auto 5 (1.1 million)
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (800,000)
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (660,000)
- The Last of Us Part II (530,000)
- NBA 2K20 (480,000)
- 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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Asia
S8UL streamer Payal Dhare and OWND! launch gamer-curated fashion capsule
S8UL gaming creator and streamer Payal Dhare has partnered with OWND!, the Gen Z-focused fashion brand from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited, to launch a gaming-inspired fashion capsule called ‘Gamer Drop’. The companies describe it as India’s first female gamer-curated capsule. The collection will be available on OWND!’s website and in the brand’s stores across India.
According to the press release, ‘Gamer Drop’ includes menswear and womenswear pieces built around gaming culture and streetwear, positioned as a creator-led collection rather than conventional creator merchandise. The campaign leans on the growing overlap between gaming culture, creator communities, and youth fashion.
Marco Agnolin, Chief Executive Officer, OWND!. said, “We see gaming today as a powerful cultural force that is shaping how young consumers express themselves, communicate, and engage with fashion. As one of India’s biggest gamers, Payal Dhare represents this new generation perfectly through her authenticity, confidence, and deep connection with the gaming community. Her influence extends far beyond gaming content, making her an ideal face for our gaming collection. Through this collaboration, we aim to celebrate individuality and connect with India’s digitally native youth in a way that feels relevant, inclusive, and culture-driven.”
Payal Dhare aka Payal Gaming said, “Gaming today has become a culture and a form of self-expression for millions of young people across the country. That’s what makes this collaboration with OWND! so exciting for me. With this curation, I wanted to create something that genuinely reflects my vibe and the energy of my community. It’s stylish, comfortable, expressive – and made for people who want to own who they are.”
The release also points to India’s expanding creator economy. Citing a Boston Consulting Group report, it says India has nearly 2 to 2.5 million creators, with more than 60% of consumers exposed to creator-led content and over 30% of shoppers influenced by creators in purchase decisions.
The post S8UL streamer Payal Dhare and OWND! launch gamer-curated fashion capsule appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
BETBY
BETBY Announces Strategic Partnership with Vibra Gaming
BETBY, the leading B2B sportsbook supplier, has announced a new strategic partnership with Vibra Gaming. The agreement will see BETBY deliver its full sportsbook solution to Vibra Gaming, further accelerating its expansion across the LatAm region.
Through this collaboration, Vibra Gaming will integrate BETBY’s complete sportsbook offering covering more than 500,000 monthly events, including its advanced AI-powered tools, AI Labs, and proprietary esports feed, Betby.Games. Delivered via a single, seamless API integration, the solution enables Vibra Gaming to incorporate a fully scalable sportsbook directly into its platform, allowing its operator partners to roll out sports betting efficiently while reducing technical complexity and accelerating time-to-market.
The integration addresses key challenges associated with launching a sportsbook, particularly the technical demands and resource requirements involved. By leveraging BETBY’s solution, Vibra Gaming can extend its platform capabilities without adding significant development overhead, while enabling its partners to introduce sports betting as part of a broader, multi-vertical offering.
A key component of the agreement is the inclusion of Betby.Games, BETBY’s award-winning esports feed, which aligns closely with Vibra Gaming’s localized approach. The portfolio features hyper-localized, industry-first titles such as eVaquejada and eFootVolley, designed specifically to resonate with Latin American audiences, further strengthening engagement across the region.
The partnership comes as BETBY continues to reinforce its position in Latin America, a strategic market where the provider has been actively investing and expanding its footprint. With operational licenses in Brazil and Peru, and a growing network of regional partners, this collaboration marks an important step in BETBY’s long-term growth strategy across LatAm.
Stefanos Karakidis, Business Development Director at BETBY, said: “This partnership is a natural fit for both sides. Vibra Gaming has built a platform that reflects the expectations of Latin American operators, and that creates the ideal environment for our sportsbook to deliver value. Besides that, what makes this collaboration particularly strong is how seamlessly our solution integrates into Vibra’s ecosystem, enabling their casino operator partners to expand into sports betting in a fast, efficient, and scalable way.”
Werter Luna, CEO at Vibra Gaming, said: “At Vibra Gaming, our priority is to provide our partners with flexible, locally relevant solutions that help them grow. Integrating BETBY’s sportsbook allows us to expand our platform with a best-in-class sports betting offering that matches our standards in terms of performance and adaptability. We’re particularly excited about the potential of combining their technology and esports content with our localized approach to further enhance the player experience across Latin America.”
The post BETBY Announces Strategic Partnership with Vibra Gaming appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
Acquisitions/Merger
Betr Acquires NFA-Registered Broker Ascent Capital Management to Accelerate Launch of Prediction Markets
Betr, the company behind the world’s first real money gaming super app, announced it has acquired Ascent Capital Management Inc., securing National Futures Association (NFA) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registration to advance the launch of prediction markets within the Betr super app.
Through the acquisition, Betr becomes a CFTC-registered introducing broker, representing a major milestone in the company’s continued expansion into regulated prediction markets. The transaction allows Betr to accelerate the company’s plans to launch prediction markets powered by Polymarket directly within the Betr super app.
Beginning later this year, Betr plans to make event contracts across sports, politics, culture, and more available to its over one million nationwide paying users through the same seamless experience as Picks, Sportsbook, Casino, and Arcade, all integrated within one wallet and one app.
“Prediction markets represent one of the most exciting evolutions in interactive entertainment and financial technology. Since starting Betr, we have built our business entirely around serving the modern sports fan at scale. This acquisition is another step toward our vision of creating the first true nationwide real-money gaming app. By securing IB registration through the acquisition of an established broker, we can now focus entirely on launching a seamless, compliant prediction markets experience powered by Polymarket. Our users will soon be able to engage with Picks, Sportsbook, Casino, Arcade, and Predictions all within a single integrated ecosystem,” said Joey Levy, Founder and CEO of Betr.
Ascent Capital Management Inc. has been registered as an introducing broker since 2011 and brings established compliance infrastructure that will support Betr’s expansion into the rapidly growing prediction markets category while maintaining strong standards around regulatory compliance and user protection.
The post Betr Acquires NFA-Registered Broker Ascent Capital Management to Accelerate Launch of Prediction Markets appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
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