In April, during the initial peak of coronavirus infections in the U.S., concertgoers flocked to an event headlined by one of the biggest artists around. They heard hit songs, danced and even bought merch. Thankfully, they weren’t throwing caution to the wind; it was a virtual concert in Fortnite, featuring rapper Travis Scott, and more than 12 million people attended.
在 COVID-19 大流行之后，生活中的许多事情都转移到了网络上，没有什么行业比电子游戏更适合这种新常态了。人们不仅在家里玩电子游戏，以取代其他娱乐方式，而且还利用游戏与朋友虚拟聚会，参与共同体验。一旦现实世界的活动变得更加安全，这一趋势也不会突然逆转。因此，以前通过广告牌等实体媒体在现实世界中接触消费者的品牌需要计划在视频游戏中举办更多聚会。
Even before COVID-19, games were on the way to becoming the next big wave of social networks. 3D virtual spaces are increasingly being used to stay in touch alongside more traditional methods. A 2019 SuperData study on U.S. preteen gamers found that one of the main reasons gamers aged 7-12 played online games like Roblox, 我的世界 和 堡垒之夜 was to spend time with friends after school. COVID-19 has only accelerated this trend.
随着 2020 年 3 月大范围禁售令开始生效，消费者在数字游戏上的支出也随之飙升，并且一直保持同比增长。今年上半年的数字游戏支出同比增长了 12%（613 亿美元对 546 亿美元）。多人在线游戏尤其具有吸引力，因为它们能让玩家与亲朋好友保持联系并打发时间。
消费者观看游戏的时间也在增加。2020 年 1 月和 2 月，Twitch 上的总体观看时长平均同比增长了 16%，但从 3 月到 6 月，这一数字跃升至平均同比增长 123%。观众来到 Twitch 不仅仅是因为缺乏其他娱乐选择。使用该平台也是一种社区体验。直播观众可以使用文字聊天和表情与其他观众和直播者互动。
Not only are consumers investing more money and time in gaming, but they have found unique ways to integrate gaming into socialization and life events. Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the breakout hit of the year so far, has played host to virtual weddings and graduation ceremonies, and A-list celebrities like 赛琳娜-戈麦斯 和 Brie Larson have even been interviewed in Animal Talking, a late-night show filmed within the game. Even business meetings are being conducted in the Rockstar titles Grand Theft Auto V 和 Red Dead Redemption 2 because they offer more variety than a typical Zoom or Skype call.
Real-time virtual events have been a mainstay of 堡垒之夜 for years, and publisher Epic Games remains a leader in the space. In addition to the Travis Scott concert, 堡垒之夜 has served as the platform to debut a new trailer for the Christopher Nolan film Tenet and later featured screenings of several of the director’s films.
With access to real-world destinations limited, consumers are also spending more time escaping into virtual reality. Among VR headset owners, roughly seven in 10 (71%) have spent more time using their device as a result of COVID-19, and VR is far from a solitary activity. VR Chat 和 Rec Room, which are virtual social spaces, are some of the most popular VR apps on PC.
如果人们在安全恢复现场活动后就不再参加虚拟聚会，那么品牌就不需要围绕虚拟聚会制定长期战略，但所有迹象都表明，虚拟社交的发展将持续下去。动视暴雪（Activision Blizzard）在其 2020 年第二季度的财报电话会议上透露，即使封锁有所缓解，游戏玩家仍在以更高的水平玩硬核网络游戏。风险投资家也看好虚拟活动的前景。虚拟音乐会直播平台 The Wave 于 2020 年 6 月获得了 3000 万美元的融资。
值得庆幸的是，对于品牌来说，有很多方法可以吸引那些在数字环境中花费更多时间的人。长期以来，企业在接触游戏玩家这一具有高收入潜力的年轻群体时一直有多种选择。除了赞助电子竞技比赛外，可以更新新广告活动的虚拟广告牌十多年来一直是网络游戏的主流。长期以来，插播广告也帮助移动游戏赚取收入。
As online worlds have gotten more robust, however, the ways brands can reach gamers have expanded dramatically. Traditional product placement might have been intrusive in some past games, but in online virtual worlds, players actually want to express themselves by wearing or displaying branded items. For example, Roblox (which one in three U.S. gamers ages 7-12 play) is a platform for making games and virtual worlds, and Warner Bros. has released in-game items like an Aquaman outfit and a virtual Scooby-Doo pet to promote their films. The developers of 堡垒之夜 have offered outfits in the game based on entertainment franchises like 怪事 和 Star Wars, and items based on Nike’s Jordan brand have even been featured in the title.
Many modern games feature sharable user-generated content, so advertisers can get their brands displayed in online worlds without working directly with developers. For example, Valentino and Marc Jacobs designed outfits that Animal Crossing players could wear by entering a code, all without involving the game’s publisher Nintendo. The Biden-Harris presidential campaign similarly released yard signs for supporters to display in front of their Animal Crossing homes.
无论品牌选择何种方式接触在虚拟世界中消磨时间的玩家，真实性都是关键。游戏玩家在一英里外就能嗅出虚假的味道，不了解游戏社区就试图吸引玩家的品牌有可能在社交媒体上被烤焦。对于数十亿消费者来说，在虚拟环境中玩游戏和社交是第二天性的活动。对网络虚拟世界给予应有关注的品牌最有可能在这种新常态下取得成功。
