Remote Play
SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2020
What’s everyone been up to in quarantine? Playing a lot of games.
As the COVID-19 pandemic goes on, it can be tricky to maintain social ties and have fun with your family and friends. We all want to hang out and do things, but in the interests of everyone remaining healthy, that’s not an option for lots of people.
For all the talk of how the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to remote work, I haven’t seen much discussion about how it has also resulted in the emergence of remote play- a larger opportunity than remote work.
Sales of video games have surged this year, as both adults and kids stuck at home turn to gaming to stay entertained and connect with friends. During the second quarter, between April and June, total consumer spending on video games in the U.S. hit a record $11.6 billion, research firm NPD Group reports, up 30% from last year.
During the pandemic, many have turned to video games not only to keep them preoccupied, but also to stay in touch with family and friends. For many parents with tweens and older children, video games can serve as an outlet to maintain fledgling relationships with classmates unable to physically connect at school. And as school districts opt to start the school year virtually, finding opportunities for kids to continue forging those bonds with classmates becomes increasingly important.
All of this is accelerating a trend that I noted back in April. Namely, that I was seeing a lot of people hacking together free-to-play games and Zoom calls:
Since that time, we’ve seen the emergence of multiple platforms going after this exact opportunity. StartPlaying.games combines video conference functionality and table-top games, most notably role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. Bummed out that your D&D campaign has stalled due to quarantine and miss your friends? Move it to the cloud! Similarly, Piepacker is a new free cloud gaming and social video platform to hangout and play retro video games with your friends online. Can’t play retro games together with your friends on the same couch? Move it to the cloud!
Remote play isn’t limited to games. For example, Amazon is working on a Watch Party feature for Prime Video — read more about that here if you’d like to give that a try. If you’re comfortable using Twitch to stream the shows, you can also use their new Watch Party feature (read about that here), though I only recommend that if you’re already familiar with streaming on Twitch. Similarly, Netflix offers Netflix Party, which you can read about here. Combine services like these with Discord‘s handy livestreaming feature, which lets you stream browser windows to a small group of friends in a voice chat. Having voice chat built-in definitely makes it feel more like a regular movie night — read how to make it happen here. Bring your own popcorn.
If you’re looking for something a bit more immersive than video conferencing, VRChat just might be your ticket. The platform has seen immense growth during the pandemic, and recently set a new concurrent user record. Looking for something with a mobile bent? Check out the beta for Eternal and feel all the vibes.
While all of those remote play examples are centered on the consumption of digital media, the opportunity doesn’t stop there. Activities that were once thought of as solely taking place in the physical realm are also moving to the cloud. AirBnB Experiences is one example of this. AirBnB has taken every possible date night imagineable and moved them to cloud. Cooking classes, cocktail mixing classes, art experiences, wine tastings, all hosted by experts. Another activity that, prior to March 2020, was thought of as a physical activity was the happy hour. The emergence of Zoom happy hours has has brought this time honored ‘real world’ activity to the cloud.
I believe we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg relative to the emergence of and adoption of remote play platforms such as these. With social distancing recommendations still in effect and no signs of being lifted anytime soon, I expect that the shift to remote play will only accelerate. It is a much larger opportunity than remote work and I am excited to watch it all unfold.
