Reassessing online games

Industry participates in WHO's social distancing campaign

Almost all industrial sectors are reeling under the new coronavirus shock, but a few industries are benefiting from it. A case in point is digital gaming. According to foreign wire services, the World Health Organization has begun a campaign called #PlayApartTogether, recommending that people practice social distancing to contain COVID-19 by playing online games.

On March 21, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also wrote on Twitter: “Let's listen to music, read books and play games at home.” Global game-makers such as Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, Twitch and Unity are taking part in the campaign.

Considering the global health agency's critical stance on online games so far, it seems as if we were living in a different world. In May last year, the WHO caused controversy by defining “gaming disorder” as an illness, brushing aside opposition from the industry and academic circles. By including online gaming in the International Classification of Disease, the WHO said games could lead to addiction requiring treatment.

Less than a year has since passed, and the WHO is now making an about-face to encourage people to play online games. Earlier, the organization came under fire for its defense of China, the epicenter of COVID-19. Most governments are critical of the WHO, which has flip-flopped its position as the situation has changed. Many also seemed to be right when they raised reasonable doubts over the organization's classification of gaming disorder as a disease.

The emergence of COVID-19 as an unexpected ally of digital gaming, is highlighting the industry's more positive functions rather than its negative aspects. At a time such as now, when all outdoor activities have been virtually banned, the gaming industry is proving its real worth. Watching TV and YouTube is individualistic, passive and closed, while online gaming is communicative, positive and open. It has even been claimed to have a curative effect for anxious or depressed people.

Every technology has two sides. Even the internet, widely hailed as one of the greatest inventions of humankind, has its dark side. With or without COVID-19, online gaming has been underestimated. We need to take another look at this industry.