How does gaming affect peoples’ minds?

Sage Journals conducted an online survey asking gamers how they think gaming has affected them. The results showed that the majority of people felt that gaming had a positive effect on their mental well-being during the pandemic. This is because gaming gives opportunities to socialize, blow off steam, and help deal with the anxiety that the pandemic causes. Many parents believe that the increased time spent playing video games causes an increase in cases of depression and anxiety in younger people. However, many studies disprove this statement and suggest quite the opposite. Psychologists have conducted numerous studies (even before Covid-19) that proved that gaming does have a positive effect on someone’s well-being.

This said, the positive effect has transcended into the Covid-19 pandemic and really has helped many people deal with stress and anxiety. They have reported that gaming was one of the main reasons for being able to cope during the lockdowns.  Players also claim that they started to play multiplayer games to socialize. This helped them meet new friends online who had similar interests and also kept them entertained.

Financial effects of Covid-19 on the gaming industry

The gaming industry was worth around 120 billion USD in 2019 (right before the pandemic). It surged to a staggering 160 billion USD. This is an increase of 40 billion USD in the span of one year. To put the numbers into context, the increase in the gaming industry’s value from 2018-2019 was 15 billion USD. Experts estimate that 75% of people who started playing mobile games during the pandemic will stick to them even after the pandemic.

The pandemic has affected the mobile gaming industry the most. This is because a lot of people did not own a gaming console before it. So, they turned to mobile gaming. 48% of the gaming industry’s value is mobile gaming. Analytics only expect it to grow.

Esports is another region of gaming that has seen major growth during the pandemic. Although esports have only generated 1 billion USD, the shorter end of the gaming industry, it is only headed up. This is because a lot of esports fans have discovered it during the pandemic. Analytics and a popular gaming marketplace estimate that the revenue for esports is going to drastically increase from now since it’s a very new industry.

Closing thoughts

However many parents claim that gaming causes their child’s brain to rot, the statistical facts are inarguable and the benefits overwhelmingly outweigh the cons of gaming. Gaming is a relatively new industry and it is only expected to grow from here. This is because newer generations are generally more inclined to spend their free time playing video games than older generations. Covid-19 has only helped the growth of the gaming industry as it snatched the spotlight during 2020 and 2021 and is expected to hold the spotlight through 2022.

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If you find yourself in this third group, then this text is ideal for you. We are discussing some of the popular games, such as £5 deposit slots that you can play online and connect with your friends.

Why You Should Play Games Online

So, why games are right for you? Well, for starters, they promote problem-solving skills, improve your mood, promote creativity, and so on. If you want to get more informed about the benefits of playing games online, you can do it here.

Ten Amazing Games

Monopoly

It is one of the most known board games that exist as an online version as well. There are various versions for your smartphone, laptop, and even game console.

You can play it against the computer or with friends.

Settlers of Catan

If you are a fan of board games online that this is will be a jewel for you. The idea of the game is that players function as settlers who are building their houses and settlements. At the same time, you interact with others by getting resources and trading.

Pandemic

You can play this type of game at home and on the computer. It is based on the idea that four diseases spread throughout the world. The players have to work together to find a cure and stop the contagion before the pandemic.

Fortnite

Fortnite is another one of the games online that quickly gained popularity. Teenagers like it, mainly because it is a shooter game, but adults aren’t immune to it either. Many people say that it is an excellent way to unwind after a long day.

Cards Against Humanity

This is one of the most liked games in 2020. It is not just what you would call an adult-only game. It is designed mainly for those who enjoy engaging in games that include offensive and politically incorrect language.

Splendor

Splendor is a fantastic game ideal for people who are complete beginners in the world of online gaming. It is effortless but has impressive visuals. The players collect the gems which they use to buy cards and gain points.

Minecraft

Anyone who likes to build will enjoy this wonderfully original game. If you never heard about, try to imagine an online version of Lego to understand how it functions. You can play it with up to seven friends.

Seven Wonders

This game is fantastic, but maybe not for everyone because it requires you to be attentive and patient. On second thought, perhaps if some of these things are your weak point, it can be a chance for you to practice. It can be challenging at first, but the more you do it, the better you will get.

The Game of Life

Otherwise known as simply Life, this game is a simulation of a person’s life journey from university to retirement. It is one of the fun games online liked by children and adults alike. Two to six players can play it.

Words with Friends 2

Every Scrabble lover will be thrilled to play this game. It is practically the same, except the app allows you to make words and challenge different people worldwide. But of course, you can keep playing with your friends and family.

Conclusion

It makes perfect sense that staying at home, especially for such an extended period, can be downright frustrating. However, you can make things easier for yourself, thanks to so many excellent games online. Have you played some that we didn’t mention today?

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Telecommuting/working, or remote work is not a new phenomenon, and has seen an increase in recent years, as cost cutting and emissions concerns have become large parts of our collective social conscience.

In fact, a study conducted by the serviced workspace provider, International Workplace Group, in 2018, found that about 70% of employees spent at least 1 day, a week, working from home. The Covid-19 pandemic appears to have accelerated the trend, however. With over 2.5 million infection cases recorded globally, governments have urged citizens to remain home and adhere to strict social distancing protocols – in an effort to mitigate the effects of Corona. The organizations that can, have responded by continuing to operate through a remote staff.

Security Risks Of Having Remote Staff

In many cases – even if firms already had protocols in place, that accommodated remote staff – global businesses were taken unawares by a crisis of this scale and likely scrambled to ready staff for the new conditions. Probably with scant (if any) regard to the cyber-security attached to such an undertaking.

Although some companies may already have a portion of their staff working from home some of the time, government enforced quarantine measures have given firms little time to equip whole staffs to continue productivity from home. These are some of the risks posed by the migration of whole offices to a remote-work model, from a cyber security perspective.

Access To Company Network

In a remote-working arrangement, key staff are not within close proximity of each other, as in an office situation. This means that much of the firm’s processes will need to be conducted online, with employees accessing its internal network from business and personal devices. This increases an organization’s cyber security threat surface, putting endpoints, connectivity, and other enterprise architecture and infrastructure at risk of exploitation by malicious actors.

While large multinationals would have some degree of security in place to ease the transition to remote work, smaller firms are probably at a higher risk of attack, as servers, collaboration tools, firewalls etc. may not be ready for such a shift, leaving them vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Internal network infrastructure taking excess strain from multiple devices accessing it simultaneously, carries risks to productivity, as well as cyber security. Companies pursuing a work-from-home strategy will have to scale their networks accordingly.

Devices

IT departments tasked with managing a remote network of employees, all accessing the organization’s internal systems on various devices will have a number of challenges to contend with.

On one hand, users might access the enterprise network or cloud via a company issued device – in which case, all necessary safeguards should be in place – on the other hand, employees could try to use their own devices to get work done. Which heightens the risk of bad actors surreptitiously getting to company data through phishing.
Additional risk factors to consider when regarding the security of devices that staff use for work is theft/damage. If an employee’s devices are lost, stolen, or damaged, valuable work time could be lost, not to mention the danger of company information being compromised. These factors are further exacerbated by the fact that members of staff likely share their living space with friends or relatives, who might gain access to said devices.

Internal Threats

This refers to human error and the potential for an organization’s staff to inadvertently allow bad actors access to the firm’s systems. This could occur through an act as simple as clicking a link on a solicitous email while cyberslacking, or using a business device for personal means, or vice versa. Cyber criminals tend to use current events to trick users into clicking or downloading content which secretly plants data-stealing software onto web-connected devices, these actors will be out in full force during the Covid-19 lockdown period.

With employees not being within close proximity of one another, communication becomes a big concern. As employees will mostly be communicating by digital means, in many cases, messages could be intercepted by cyber criminals. Authentication, authorization as well as measures to prevent fraud and data theft will have to be considered.

Beefing Up Security

There are measures that companies can put in place to sure themselves up against cyber attacks or data loss while ensuring that they remain operational through a remote staff.

Businesses will have to gain an understanding of their threat surface and work with their IT, or Cyber Security team to identify attack vectors, and make securing their most sensitive data a priority.

They will need to provide their staff with clear remote working policy and give instructions on how employees can make their homes’ working environment more secure. In addition to making sure they have consistent access to IT support.

Investment in security solutions like customer identity and access management for customer-facing applications is critical. Cutting costs in this area is not viable if companies wish to remain protected against online threats.

Ensure that the devices and systems staff will be using are equipped with appropriate security capabilities; VPN, MFA and encryption, where necessary

Employees, on the other hand, will need to maintain clear, and strict, working hours to establish work/life balance. Remote staff will also need to be especially wary of Covid-19 related solicitations coming in the form of emails, calls, or text messages, as well as never mixing business and pleasure (Keeping work devices strictly for work, and personal devices strictly personal).

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