From ‘Fall Guys’ to ‘Among Us,’ How America Turned to Videogames Under Lockdown

With little else to do, Americans are spending record amounts of money on videogames. New players are taking up the habit, and even parents are embracing the pastime as a way for kids to socialize online. The way we entertain ourselves may never be the same.

Image from article:
 Jason Anthony went from playing videogames only on weekends to playing daily when he started working from home in March. He’s still playing every day even though he’s now back at the office for work.

By Sarah E. Needleman
Oct. 31, 2020 12:00 am ET  

Excerpt: 

"Now, as coronavirus infections continue to rise in several countries, videogames are in an unprecedented position to captivate people who typically wouldn’t have as much time to dive in, according to academics who study consumer behavior. 

'The pandemic has been the perfect breeding ground for the mushrooming of what was already a very large industry,' said George Loewenstein, a professor of economics and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Of all the boredom-squashing pastimes people have taken up since it began, from bread-baking and day trading of stocks to reinventing backyards and stooping, he said, videogames are 'one of the most sticky.'"

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