Poll: Are You Spending More Time Gaming Because of the Coronavirus Lockdown?

I feel for those that have been in lockdown. I've been gaming less (usual for this time of year anyway), because my business is still deemed essential. I've been salivating at the idea of playing re3 remake and final fantasy 7 remake.... I also want to get my hands on a plague tale, especially after playing the demo.... One day!!!

actually playing less because of work increasing

I've played my PS4 less as the Mrs is at home hogging the TV, I have managed to split the living room to get my retro games downstairs so I've been playing a lot of Saturn games in particular on that.

Actually the last couple of days I've been mainly playing with my 3 year old, either in the paddling pool or watching videos of Disneyland and pretending he's on a rollercoaster

I’m playing a lot more but feeling increasingly worse. I still need to finish FF7R but just don’t have the motivation.

Like others, my work has only increased. My kids are playing a lot more due to no school, but I am far from being locked down. Curiously, I personally do not know anyone who is locked down at home. We all seem to be working more, not less.

I’ve been designated a key worker so my hours at home haven’t changed, thus my gaming habits haven’t really changed.

It's about the same for me, as I used to spend a lot of my free time gaming anyway. The types of games haven't changed either, for me games are escapism regardless of whether it is bright and cheerful or more darker and serious.

Playing about the same amount, but I also put my energy into productive things like working out and learning new instruments.

Im gaming less because I don't want to play the games I have and don't know what I want to play.

Working out of the home, I'm always "on call" due to my sector's historic crash. COVID-19 and oil. Yay. Fun times.

Stuck at home till May 15th (see if that one sticks 🙄)

But playing about the same. Just playing more co-op/sports games online with people I do not get to see at work anymore.

My deadlines have not changed - I just need to meet them from home. So do not really have more time to play. Same PM time slots after the day slows down.

I'm still working, so my gaming habits have not changed.

In terms of what I'm playing, I've finished up the Platinum in Final Fantasy VII Remake and now I'm playing Days Gone in between bouts of Final Fantasy XII.

kids not at school wife working from home. trying sort out kids with their homework sent from school in german. loosing the will to live after nearly 8 weeks of lock down. ive played games but more just holding controller with eyes glazed over at 11pm

I went through my 12 game backlog in 5 Weeks now I'm looking for something else to play.

pro tip: have more hobbies

I wish! Just like some of the guys above I'm stuck checking loads of tests and conducting online classes for my students (actually, I have only just realised I hate my PC for this reason). Whenever I do find some time I play Days Gone, which seems so appropriate at this time (including the title). I just wish these days were gone...

A lot more every night after I get him from the hospital I need to unwind now.

Yep. I'm in pure bum mode.

I been playing the games i usually play.my backlog is so huge now i can wait for ps5 for 3 years.word up son

@NYJetsfan123. Hows everything where you at.your family friends and everyone.im playing dragon quest 11.now im enjoying it a lot.and im having a blast.nfl draft yesterday what did you think playa.word up son

Been playing FF7R every night! I'm a first grade teacher, and while I'm still working with kids (remotely), I now have the rare luxury of staying up late every single weeknight (which NEVER happens during the school year). It has been MAGICAL!

Still working the same hours so that's no change. Only difference for me really is I'd normally watch a lot of sport on my weekends off so a lot of that time has become gaming time. I've taken a big chunk out of my backlog and might go for a few more Platinums.

Finished Shenmue 3 and the main story of God of War. Incredible game. Still got loads of side missions so I'm far from done with it.

Played loads of community levels for Dreams. I regularly play Apex online with the misses and mates. And lastly, I also got Tetris Effect the other day in the sale. Great game to chill out with after the kids are in bed. I think that's a nice bit of variety in my games diet.

Next up, back to Death Stranding. Then maybe Witcher 3 hopefully.

No, I'm at work 40 hours a week.

Yes I've been gaming more l, but that has more to do with ff7 remake than it does with coronavirus.

I'm painting more Warhammer miniatures 😀

A bit more. I have a few extra hours off and a few times they have randomly given us days off. But I don't really use it just to game. When I do tho, I'm definitely clearing my backlog

Or at least I thought I was but I just bought 3 more games from that Big in Japan sale ._.

I've been playing a little more than usual, but in that time I have been playing more online co-op than usual/ever before.

Got the Platinum for Breakpoint last Sunday, after around 116 hours.

It’s the same for me. My job is essential, so nothing really changed for me.

Yes, unfortunately. The area I live is one with more problems in center Italy and only after May 4th I'll know if I can go back to work, if still there's one...
In this month, +70 hours with Persona 5 Royal and +20 hours with Ancestors.

I have been gaming more since I have been furloughed for a month now. Been also watching more tv and getting more projects done around the house as well.

I am very lucky to have a job, and a job that I can do at home with a lot of inconvenience but minimal risk. I know I am very fortunate at this difficult time.

That said, all my days have turned into 12-14 hour marathons. My work load is the same, but everything takes twice as long to do. And my kids are being absolute champs during all of this, but I have to help make sure they do schoolwork, get exercise and food during the work day. So, any leisure/chill/gaming time is significantly reduced these days.

That said, when I can game, I am denting the old backlog. Finished Shadows Awakening two days ago, looking forward to starting Control tonight!

Stay safe everyone, and happy gaming!

I’m laid off but financially ok, so, it’s been pretty great for me. It’s felt like a long vacation.

Equal amount actually. I’ve not seen much of my life change since the lockdowns. I’ve always been a homebody so...

Been playing ESO like a mad man. Also got 3 of my friends to start playing and they’re loving it. No wait for dungeon queues is lovely!

Still at work and while we went through a few bad weeks, workload is easing up. My daughter loves animal crossing though and still made time to play that. Mental health issues are going to be no joke through lockdown, very much missing seeing family and friends in person.

@Anguspuss I have 3 kids at home (15,11 and 4) my wife's a key worker so I'm the boss.

It absolutely sucks. I have to suffer railroading them to do (dead easy imo) school work. I don't have the patience dealing with these simpletons, it would take me a quarter of the time. Incentivising them with gift vouchers and they still can't do it! Watching my kids don't kill each other playing commercial garbage like Fifa and Warzine whilst I have ideas for Dreams unfulfilled and trophies sat uncollected. Playing Barbie dream house and number blocks is the highlight of my day before 9pm.

The great thing is I now realise I will not go self employed / work from home which was a pipe dream I had last year. Absolutely no way.

An android from Detroit become human is higher in the foodchain than I feel dealing with secondary school spot infested xbox jerks.

Playing less because my wife is showing symptoms of the virus so ive been solo parenting a 2 year old and a 2 month old. I finally sat down at 10.40 pm last night for some FF7 remake. 20 minutes later. "Daddddy" 🤷‍♂️

@grahamd glad im not alone. Does yours still wear clothes? Mine refuses 😭😭😭

More work, more tired so I'm playing less.

nope, took up Warhammer 40k again after 20 year gap, why not

Retired I can play when and how much I want at any time.

I'm 'high risk' so on lockdown and supposed to be shielding for 12 weeks,so feeling guilty as my job is classed as 'key worker' but to be honest I don't think I've been gaming THAT much more than usual..maybe a few hours more and that includes Wii Fit and Ring Fit Adventure which is exercise rather than gaming.
Still,I HAVE played a lot of Animal Crossing I suppose..oh and a lot of Final Fantasy VII Remake..

@NYJetsfan123 A Plague Tale was probably the most underappreciated game of 2019.

Playing games backlog mostly trophies easy games first then back to harder games. Clocking trophies with enjoyable games not crap ones.

Same if not less. Working 8 hours a day then looking after kids at the weekend. Exhausted. Mainly doing my backlog though!

Working from home so doing the same hours as i would do normally, but I get about an extra hour gaming every day as I don't have to travel to and from.

Yes I’ve been playing games more especially my steam backlog, on ps4 I’m still playing final fantasy 7 remake, just got to the sector 5 slum and doing the side quests 😃

I'm playing more than I would play normally. I'm lucky to have the opportunity of playing games during my work hours.

I'm a key worker so my gaming habits haven't changed in the slightest.

Been playing more. I beat FF7 remake in 1 week... can’t remember the last time i beat a new game that fast.

Didn't have an option saying I always game lots regardless of work or not 😅 I'm on shutdown till my work opens its doors again to go back to the grind.

@nessisonett you and me both, brother. Regular routine and exercise still can't offset feeling like crap after being stuck in for 7 weeks. We'll get there, my man. One day at a time.

About to finish up Final Fantasy XII for the first time and it's an underrated jem in my opinion.

My gaming habits have changed, but not for the reason you’d think. I’m still going to work daily because of military defense contracts and my wife is working from home with our son being home, but twice a week my in-laws take my son to help my wife. I’m able to get some game time in when I get home before they drop him off, usually I help distract him so she can work or before all of this I’d play with him or do things around the house so my game time was very little. Not going to lie, I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit.

I thought I’d be playing more but it hasn’t really happened for some reason.

My company is still open but as business was slower they furloughed half the staff. Ive been off for 4 weeks now and its really starting to get to me. Ive deccorated most of the house and been doing alot of walking and photography around the lakes and rivers at the local nature reserve which is 10 minutes walk from me. I have completed FFVI remake and Zeld:Links awakening and am now 15 hours in to persona. Im also doing a 1000 piece where's Wally jigsaw with my kids and it hard as bloody nails 😂😂

@AhabSpampurse Lemme tell you, having ADHD and being told to stay inside don’t exactly gel. Despite the fact I probably would have stayed inside playing games anyway, making it suddenly mandatory just makes me feel trapped. Ah well, better than getting the virus I guess.

I played my PS3 games more frequently than my other Nintendo games during the pandemic.
But still i do care with my Switch and other gaming devices.
Still have a lot of backlogs to be finished.

I have been gaming a lot more than usual. My whole field of work has nearly come to a stop and that feels so strange since usually my shifts are kind of hectic. Yay for gaming keeping morale high!

I've had the old ps3 out for some GTA4 which is still great and Ive been chipping away at Final Fantasy XIII which I'm actually liking rather a lot (though in small doses) and think I might end up being one of those people who claim it's underrated.
Also Monster Hunter World in the spring sale which is the best thing ever and my first MH in . . . ten years!!!! Time, where does it go?

@OMG_Waffles oh man, wait until you get to XIII.

@FullbringIchigo Same here. Work has been crazier than ever and I feel like my head is going crazy with everything going on. I'm gaming still but surprisingly a lot less.

@carlos82
I hear that whip a crackin'. I hear it crackin' reeeeal good!

I am very much a homebody, so not much has changed, tbh.

@1_W1NG3D_4NG3L

Honestly, it wasn't too bad. The combat relies much more on enemy weaknesses and playing defensively. With a maxed Elemental materia, and a maxed Steadfast block, you'll do fine. I just kept checking my Enemy Intel to see which enemies were coming up and adjusted my load out accordingly.
I used the following load out from Powerpyx and it got me through the game perfectly fine:
https://www.powerpyx.com/final-fantasy-7-vii-remake-hard-difficulty-guide-tips-tricks/

The hardest bosses (which still weren't too bad) were Hell House and Eligor (the cheeky git casts Reflect on you so you can't heal). You could add Prayer to your load out for that boss, or just cast Arise each time a character dies.

Also, I've noticed in these comments there are a lot of Key Workers, or people still working - like myself - during this time, so I just wanted to say thank you to you all, and I hope you're all keeping safe! 👍

@themcnoisy i have pleasure of watching a 7 year old and 4 year old playing sonic forces. I did convince them try digimon cyber sluth on the replayable levels to do some grind for me. . apart from that we built a barbie shop a hot wheels drag strip. more easter decorations than we needed lol

@1_W1NG3D_4NG3L

The main thing I can suggest for Hell House on Hard is to save Aerith's 2nd limit level for the 3rd phase, when it has less than 25% HP. The protection will last pretty much the remainder of the battle. Also, kill the Tonberrys that it spawns as soon as possible with Cloud's Triple Slash. I just made sure that Aerith and Cloud had all 4 elements so that I could attack its weakness as soon as it changed element, used the ATB aura with Aerith regularly and tried to stagger it as quickly as possible, then used Ray of Judgement to increase the stagger percentage to get some more damage in.

To me, the first time you fight Hell House, you aren't prepared for how the fight plays out, but once you've gone through the first half of Hard, you'll have a much better grasp on the mechanic, will also know how Hell House fights and thus it actually seems a bit easier to deal with.

@Anguspuss Good to hear. We have done a ton of arts and crafts. I wish my daughter was slightly older though she is like a shadow at the moment, which is both good and bad - I'm concerned she is going to be attached emotionally to us more than ever and struggle to go back to school.

@gollumb82 Same here. Online classes suck for students, but revising all their work takes more than it would in real life. It's all I'm doing every day.

@themcnoisy my kids desprate go back to school and kindergarten. but the young kids in kindergarten and primary school here are going back on the 11th may. at least its warm and over 20 degrees here so they can play stangle beat each other up in the garden and balcony lol

Even though I feel bad for the people that are stuck at home all day, I'm honestly one of the ones who have to work still, so I still have my usual days. Other than that, I have been playing my backlog more as there's less places to get games. But, as for my kids and I, when I finally have a day off, we're going for more walks, hikes, bike rides and playing outside as much as we can...better than keeping the kids locked up inside and driving me nuts!

@playstation1995

What's up brother!?!? I am good. My wife and kids are good. We safe playa. How you doing?? New York is coronavirus hotspot right now. Stay safe dog. Take care of your family, friends, your girl etc. Idk if you know but I am born and raised new York. I lived on long island, Brooklyn, queens all over the place. I left about ten years ago. Be safe my brother!

@1_W1NG3D_4NG3L. How is it going playa.hows your family and friends doing.watching the nfl draft for the Pittsburgh Steelers.im enjoying my backlog word up son

@NYJetsfan123 ok cool are you getting the ps5 on launch.whats up with your jets.did u like the nfl draft.man im having a good time with my ps4 backlog.man thisword up sonvirus stuff is crazy.but me and my family and friends and my girl is good.im waiting for nfl season .

@NYJetsfan123 word ☝ up son

@1_W1NG3D_4NG3L. We got a wide receiver.rb. safety.dl.erc.its all good.yes im all good.dont know when this virus will end.but people should stay safe and watch some movies 📺 tv.play theyre backlog.stay safe playa.word ☝ up son

While I've only briefly left my house in the last two months, I'm actually gaming less than I was before because I'm with my two kids 24/7. These days, I'm mostly only gaming at night after they go to bed, though I do sometimes sneak in some games of MLB The Show on low volume while I listen to them from another room.