Since 25th March 2020, the entire nation is under lockdown because of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. The citizens are passing this time by playing online games. From PUBG to World of Warcraft, increased traction can be witnessed in online games over May. Here is a list of most played games during COVID-19 lockdown in India according to a study by SEMrush:
- PUBG- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is an online multiplayer battle royale game. 22 Lakh people in the country played PUBG last month.
- Fortnite- Fortnite is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. Around 8.5 Lakh citizens played this game last month.
- Minecraft- Minecraft is a sandbox video game developed by Mojang Studios. 8.2 Lakh Indians played Minecraft during May.
- League of Legends- League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games for Microsoft Windows and macOS. 1.5 Lakh people in the country played this game in May.
- Counter-Strike- Counter-Strike is a series of multiplayer first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorist battle to perpetrate an act of terror while counter-terrorists try to prevent it. This game was enjoyed by 1.5 Lakh people in the country last month.
- World of Warcraft- World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. 1.1 Lakh Indians enjoyed this game last month.
- Clash of Clans- Clash of Clans is a freemium mobile strategy video game developed and published by Finnish game developer Supercell. This game was played by 1.1 Lakh people in May.
Many Indians participated in online tournaments as well. From January to April the searches for International Fortnite World Cup, International Counter-Strike, Pokemon World Championship and League of Legends World Championship increased by 81%, 22%, 84%, 255% and 50% respectively. The mobile premier league saw a rise of 406% in searches.
Around 1.1 Lakh people searched for Nintendo Switch gaming console. This was followed by 0.49 Lakh searches for Xbox One and 0.02 Lakh searches for PlayStation 4.
The most searched games on Mobile phones from January 2020 to May 2020 were:
- Ludo King – 18 Lakh searches
- PUBG- 10 Lakh searches
- Subway Surfers- 8.2 Lakh searches
- Temple Run- 2.4 Lakh searches
- Garena Free Fire- 2 Lakh searches
- Clash of Clans- 1.1 Lakh
According to Nielsen data, the time spent on playing online games was increased by 44% in the week starting from 16th May. The week starting from 25th April witnessed the peak of online gaming.