Latest News
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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Latest News
Game On N1 Sport Promo Is Live
N1 Partners is launching N1 Sport Promo, a promo campaign for affiliates driving Sports Betting and Prediction Markets traffic.
The promotion covers the biggest sporting and esports events of the season, including the FIFA World Cup 2026, Wimbledon, Formula 1, UFC Freedom 250, and many other major events. The promo runs from June 10 to July 20, 2026.
During the campaign, affiliates can increase their CPA payouts based on the volume of qualified FTDs they deliver. The more quality players a partner brings, the higher his rate and total earnings become.
Why join N1 Sport Promo?
Every major sporting event attracts new audiences to the betting vertical, and summer 2026 offers multiple powerful growth drivers for affiliates.
- Peak sports season.
The biggest sporting events of the year are perfect for scaling traffic and testing new funnels. - Growing payouts.
The more FTDs you generate, the higher your active CPA rate becomes. - Tier-1 GEOs.
The promo is available across Tier-1 markets with high potential and quality sports traffic.
N1 Partners team has compiled a guide covering key sporting events, June promotions, and expert recommendations for monetising Tier-1 sports traffic to help affiliates prepare for the upcoming sports season.
How does N1 Sport Promo work?
The mechanics are simple: the more quality FTDs an affiliate generates, the higher their CPA rate becomes.
SEO and PPC
Affiliates working with SEO and PPC traffic can increase their CPA rate with no limits.
Every 10 FTDs add an extra €50 to your current rate. There is no cap on CPA growth.
Example:
| FTD | Rate | Revenue |
| 1–10 | €300 | €3 000 |
| 11–20 | €350 | €3 500 |
| 21–30 | €400 | €4 000 |
| 31–40 | €450 | €4 500 |
FB, In-App, UAC, ASO, Email and SMS
A separate payout structure applies to affiliates working with Facebook, In-App, UAC, ASO, Email, and SMS traffic.
Every 30 FTDs increase your current CPA rate by €10. The maximum increase is €100 on top of the base rate.
Accordingly, the more successfully a campaign scales, the higher the final payout becomes.
Example:
| FTD | Rate | Revenue |
| 1–30 | €100 | €3 000 |
| 31–60 | €110 | €3 300 |
| 61–90 | €120 | €3 600 |
| 91–120 | €130 | €3 900 |
N1 Sport Promo terms
Registered N1 Partners affiliates are eligible to participate in N1 Sport Promo. Please contact your affiliate manager to join the promotion.
Not working with N1 Partners yet? Get in touch with the LeadGen team and join the promotion during the biggest sports period of the summer.
Main terms:
- Sports betting and Prediction Markets traffic is allowed.
- GEOs: Tier-1 (the list of available countries is provided by your manager).
- CAP: 50 FTDs at campaign launch.
- At least 60% of acquired players must place sports bets.
- Traffic to crash games must not exceed 30% of total volume.
- Incentivised traffic, fraud, and non-target GEOs are not eligible for the promotion.
- N1 Partners reserves the right to recalculate or cancel FTDs in cases of fraudulent activity or violations of the promotion terms.
- Payouts are processed according to the company’s standard payment schedule.
Detailed participation terms are available via the link.
Join N1 Sport Promo and turn the 2026 sports season into record-breaking results!
Join N1 Partners:
- 14+ casino and sportsbook brands with high Reg2Dep
- 10+ Tier-1 GEOs
- CPA up to €700 and RevShare up to 55% + NNCO for top partners
Be number one with N1!
The post Game On N1 Sport Promo Is Live appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Latest News
Novusbet and TeApuesto scale omnichannel betting in Peru with 1,300-shop network
Novusbet and Peruvian operator TeApuesto are expanding a large-scale omnichannel betting operation in Peru, Novusbet said on 11 June 2026 in a release from Nicosia, Cyprus. The supplier said the deployment links a retail network of more than 1,300 shops—each with at least two terminals—to online, mobile, self-service terminals and back-office operations.
Novusbet said the TeApuesto operation processes more than 3 million sports and virtual tickets every month. The company positioned the project as an example of growing convergence between retail and digital betting in Peru, where shops remain central but customer expectations are shifting toward faster access, mobile use and digital payment options.
According to Novusbet, the focus is “not only about allowing players to access the same brand through different channels” but “creating continuity across the full player journey: from registration and betting activity to payments, ticket management, account interaction, information access and customer support.”
The company also pointed to local payment habits as a driver for product development, citing mobile money transfer services Yape and Plin as widely used in Peru. Novusbet said it has enhanced self-service and “omniconnected solutions” with payment options aligned with local usage patterns.
Novusbet said it will exhibit at Peru Gaming Show 2026 on June 17–18 at the Centro de Exposiciones Jockey in Lima.
The post Novusbet and TeApuesto scale omnichannel betting in Peru with 1,300-shop network appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Game Development
ICONIC21 releases Soccer World Championship slot built around penalty shootouts
ICONIC21 has released Soccer World Championship, a new multiplayer-driven slot themed around penalty shootouts. The game runs on a 5×5 grid with 15 paylines.
The title’s core mechanic is a Penalty symbol that becomes an Expanding Wild and triggers a duel between a Striker and a Goalkeeper. Each carries a multiplier between 2x and 100x, with the duel outcome determining which remains on the reel. ICONIC21 said multiple Expanding Wilds on the same payline combine their multipliers into a single win.
The game includes two bonus modes. Three Goalkeeper Bonus symbols trigger a Bonus Game featuring frequent Penalty symbols, where multipliers from Expanding WILDs build a global multiplier applied to all wins. Three Striker Bonus symbols instead activate a Bonus Game where Expanding WILDs lock as Sticky WILDs until the end of the feature.
Edvardas Sadovskis, Chief Product Officer at ICONIC21, said: “Football is the one sport where a single moment can decide everything, and that is exactly the feeling we set out to build a slot around.
“The penalty duel puts that tension at the heart of the base game, and the two bonus modes give players genuinely different ways for the match to play out. It’s a title with an instantly recognisable hook, strong seasonal reference and the kind of standout mechanic that earns its place in any operator’s lobby.”
The post ICONIC21 releases Soccer World Championship slot built around penalty shootouts appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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