Playing video games is one of the most popular leisure activities globally. The marriage of interactive storytelling with virtual reality is unsurprisingly attention-grabbing. Owing to the pandemic, video games have taken an edge over other pastimes due to their ease of access. Video games are addictive because players become entangled in the smooth and immersive experience. Before the pandemic, people denounced gamers due to “being eternally stuck in the evasive and escapist activities instead of living in the real world.” Now the game has changed because those same people are adhered to their seats, playing games.
Popularity in Canada
The picture isn’t any different in Canada because humans follow the same patterns, fall prey to similar activities, and retreat to the same old when the situation gets sour. The game developers have also revolutionized the way we viewed the game industry by creating intellectually stimulating games in addition to the ones developed solely for entertainment. Also, many e-banking services are developed solely for the purchase of goods in the game industry. For example, Interac casino Canada may be one of the best choices among other electronic financial transactions for the gambling market. All these features provide the ease of access that was lacking in the game industry previously which has increased the popularity of video games in Canada.
Gaming Stats
The statistics show a continual growth of the gaming industry over the years. The market revenue in the US alone amounts to a staggering 60.4 billion dollars. This upswing can be attributed to the coronavirus breakout where people being inside the four walls of their homes all the time resorted to gaming. The figure is estimated to reach or most likely surpass 200 billion USD by 2023.
Gaming Statistics in Canada
In Canada alone, the popularity of video games has been massive, the profit in the industry is predicted to gain 1,306 million USD in 2021. And the number of gamers is projected to reach 20.9 million by the same year.
Why the Popularity?
The rage of the gaming industry isn’t solely due to the pandemic but also due to the video game features that have been sharpened over the years like:
- The gameplay is now smoother than ever. Game developers have made sure that the gaming experience surpasses every other pastime in terms of recreation and diversion. They have done so by making the layout of the games adaptable to any digital screen, be it portrait or landscape, mobile or desktop, Android or Apple.
- The gaming industry has incorporated storytelling elements and various character arcs in the gaming universe, making gaming, not just a leisure activity, but also an exercise in imagination.
- Game developers have burnished features that provide ease of access like
- making the games downloadable if the gamer wants to play them offline
- making them available without download
- making them available for free
- The popularity can also be attributed to the myriad of genres to choose from when playing games. From immersive fantasy to games popularly known as “brain training games”, people of all sorts can play.
- The video game growth can also be attributed to the fact that it’s a budget-friendly leisure activity that offers so much more than just leisure. The scale of the gaming universe has broadened exponentially. The creativity of developers knows no bounds
Video Games Set in Canada
Video game prevalence is also due to the millions of country-specific games. Video games set in Canada are one of the motives for the upswing of the gaming statistics in this country because users tend to be enticed by nation-specific activities. From e-sports like Canadian football video games to historical fiction action-adventure battles like Assassin’s Creed, the category is brimming with all kinds of games.
The Assassin’s Creed
Developed by the iconic trio, Patrice Désilets, Jade Raymond, and Corey May, the Assassin’s Creed series features an age-old crusade between two groups: Assassins, who promote free will, and the Templars, who crave control of the masses. This Canada-based action-adventure game has globally sold 140 million copies so far, according to Ubisoft.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Created by Treyarch, this first-person shooter is set during the Cold War and the Vietnam War. Released in 2010, it was a massive overnight hit. This Canada-based game is the most popular of the whole series selling over 30 million units globally.
Tony Hawk’s
This skateboarding game series was published by Activision, the first instalment coming out in 1999. Based in Canada, this is one of the most popular game series which is also a best-selling franchise.
Wipeout
This futuristic saga was created by Psygnosis which not only became a fan-favourite immediately after release but was also critically acclaimed due to its brilliant originality. It topped all the charts upon release, the significance becoming so striking that it was made downloadable later on.
Perfect Dark
Set in Canada, Perfect Dark is an FPS video game published by the British video game developer, Rare, in 2000. It succeeds the famous James Bond-themed FPS game GoldenEye 007, both sharing the same traits which made these games so popular. It was critically acclaimed for its stunning visuals and brilliant use of AI.
Mass Effect 3
Designed by BioWare, this action RPG game’s reputation precedes itself. The final game of the epic trilogy received critical acclaim immediately upon release. Its narrative and emotional impact were especially lauded.
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
This action RPG was designed by Raven Software and released in September 2005. Based in Canada, this unique game is an amalgamation of two comics: X-men and Brotherhood of Mutants. These teams with superpowers together fight the supervillainous Apocalypse. This game makes it to the list of PlayStation 2’s Greatest Hits due to being a bestseller.
Conclusion
Playing games take precedence over other pastimes not just in Canada but also globally. This is highlighted by the statistics we’ve listed in the article. The popularity of video games can be pinned to the pandemic. It can also be ascribed to the million of game features that the game designers have perfected over the years.