With no school, homework or any other commitments due to coronavirus, kids (and adults) all across the globe are spending their time gaming with friends online.
The two biggest culprits in Italy are Fortnite and Call of Duty online. The problem for those that love these games is that they both take up a massive amount of bandwidth. This is causing some Italian telecoms companies some real headaches.”
How is Italy Using Gaming to Cope With Coronavirus?
Italy has been on lockdown since the 9th of March and people are turning to gaming to help them cope with the coronavirus. Restrictions are tightening every week as the country desperately tries to contain and halt the spread of coronavirus. Kids across the country are stuck at home and looking for things to do since the lockdown means schools are shutting down indefinitely.
In a call with Bloomberg analysts, Telecom Italia’s CEO Luigi Gubitosi said: “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”.
Initially, the surge in traffic led to some temporary network outages in Italy. However, Telecom Italia is assuring those have been brought under control.
While Call of Duty wasn’t directly mentioned by Telecom Italia, Activision released the game’s free battle royale mode “Warzone” last week. This game drew 6 million players on its first day.
What Other Games Are Causing a Bandwidth Shortage?
It’s also a fair guess to say many other online games are seeing a surge in popularity. Steam smashed through its previous number record, logging 20 million gamers online all at once. Online-only favourites like League of Legends, DOTA and Counter-Strike have also seen a player spike over the last couple of weeks, as gamers take the extra time off to grind out ranked matches.
The United Kingdom has now shut schools to children of all but those classified as “essential workers”. This includes NHS staff and teachers. Many states in the USA are also closing schools down. We think it’s safe to say many countries will start to experience a similar demand for online activities.
Featured Image Credit – WebMD