Video game usage shoots up by 75% in the U.S. as people stay at home

U.S. Communications provider Verizon has reported a huge surge in gaming as the country locks down and people are staying in their homes. Streaming video services are up 12% but gaming has rocketed by 75%, while social media has remained relatively flat.

“As we see more and more individuals work from home and students engage in online learning, it is a natural byproduct that we would see an increase in web traffic and access to VPN. And as more entertainment options are cancelled in communities across the U.S., an increase in video traffic and online gaming is not surprising,” said Kyle Malady, chief technology officer for Verizon.

AT&T have dropped the caps from some of their services as people begin to work from home, and Comcast is “pausing” any data plans and making all of their Xfinity Wi-Fi hot spots free to use even if you are not signed up to their service.

“Many of our AT&T internet customers already have unlimited home internet access, and we are waiving internet data overage for the remaining customers,” AT&T said. “Additionally, through Access From AT&T we’ll continue to offer internet data to qualifying limited income households for $10 a month.”

It’s not just the States seeing a huge demand for internet bandwidth, Italy is also experiencing the same issues. “We reported an increase of more than 70% of Internet traffic over our landline network, with a big contribution from online gaming such as Fortnite,” Telecom Italia Chief Executive Officer Luigi Gubitosi said Wednesday on an analyst call.

But never fear because the man is back! Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter is offering his words of wisdom to anyone who will listen. “People are staying indoors for sure, so by logical extension, they’re engaged in indoor activities to a greater extent than before,” he commented.

Thanks Captain Obvious!

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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