As coronavirus outbreak has forced people to stay at home and self-isolate themselves, the gaming platform Steam had a record number of players online from all over the world this weekend.
According to their data, over 20 million gamers connected at the same time. The highest single peak in terms of players was on Sunday afternoon when 20,312,000 players all connected at the same time – the most in its 16 year history. Out of the 20 million users logged on to the steam app on Sunday, nearly 6.4 million of them were actively playing a game.
According to Mail Online, it’s a notable peak for the platform as it didn’t coincide with any major gaming release – unlike previous usage peaks. It has been put down to countries going into lockdown and people into self-isolation as a result of coronavirus. With major sporting events cancelled, gatherings of large groups banned and pubs beginning to close – people are looking for ways to pass the time indoors.
In Italy, public life has also come to a complete halt as schools, restaurants, theatres and gyms have shut down indefinitely. As a result, Telecome Italia SpA’s national network registered a surge of more than 70 % of internet traffic over its landline network, with a major contribution from online gaming such as ‘Fortnite’ and ‘Call of Duty’.
