Gaming helps people cope with lockdown -- but at a cost

A new survey, commissioned by cybersecurity company BullGuard, has revealed that gamers are taking advantage of the social isolation to up their playing time

By doing so, 49 percent say they are alleviating lockdown anxiety, 84 percent are understandably relieving their boredom, while 60 percent are battling it out online to help block out the current situation.

BullGuard partnered with system and gaming rig builder Chillblast to survey over 1,000 gamers about their habits during the coronavirus lockdown. Not surprisingly, it discovered that rather than succumb to boredom and stress, gamers have increased their time online and feel better for it. 84 percent say their gaming has increased due to lockdown with 27 percent gaming for an extra five or more hours a day. Extra time spent online has helped nearly half (43 percent) of respondents to improve their gaming skills.

As well as extra time, 73 percent say they're spending more money on gaming too, with 16.6 percent admitting to spending an additional £100 ($120) plus a month on in-game purchases, new games, hardware or other related items.

The survey further reveals that 84 percent of gamers are using antivirus protection and that 79 percent are not turning off their antivirus when gaming. This is encouraging given that cybercriminals have unleashed a near tsunami of malware, taking advantage of the current situation and the additional time that gamers are spending online due to the lockdown.

Paul Lipman, CEO at BullGuard says, "It's incredibly positive to see that 84 percent of gamers are using antivirus, enabling them to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals who are taking advantage of the pandemic. The survey however revealed that over 20 percent of respondents either do not have any AV or turn it off whilst gaming. This is because gamers notoriously believe that AV slows down frame rates, however, thanks to advanced software, this is not always the case. Antivirus can now include features like BullGuard's patent-pending Game Booster, which not only protects gamers online, but has proven to deliver optimal performance."

It's not all good news though -- especially if you live with a gamer -- while playing might have helped with overall mental well being it hasn't done much for personal hygiene. One in five surveyed admit to missing showers, 29 percent not going outside for over three days and 16 percent have skipped cleaning their teeth.

Photo credit: Iryna Tiumentseva / Shutterstock