Location-Based Games and the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of Responses from Game Developers and Players

Abstract

In early 2020, as a countermeasure to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments issued limitations on the movements of their citizens, cancelling social events and advising people to stay home. As location-based games (LBGs) have been found to influence human movement, their role during COVID-19 deserves closer inspection. Under regular circumstances, the very aim of these games is to motivate people to go out, explore and meet other people. However, during COVID-19, people were advised to do the exact opposite. To study how LBG developers and players reacted to the situation, we used the netnography research method utilizing three types of data: (1) COVID-19 related in-game changes made by seven popular LBG developers during March 2020; (2) social media reactions on 20 posts across three popular Pokémon GO subreddits; and (3) the raiding activity (collaborative play) in Pokémon GO in a Finnish municipality during February–May 2020. All observed LBGs made in-game changes due to COVID-19. The social media reactions showed overwhelming appreciation towards these changes, and two central second order themes arose: (1) LBGs have the ability to influence human movement during pandemics; and (2) people should be able to self-regulate their behaviour during COVID-19 independent of LBG influence. Surprisingly, recorded Pokémon GO player activity in Finland was more influenced by offered in-game rewards than the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings have implications on how games and gamification can be used to direct human movement in situations such as COVID-19 where population-level interventions are needed.

Social Media for Knowledge Acquisition and Dissemination: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Collaborative Learning Driven Social Media Adoption

“…The onset of the COVID-19 outbreak is a historically unparalleled adverse occurrence (Venkatesh, 2020) with unprecedented lockdowns imposed across nations Pandemics are large outbreaks of an infectious disease over a wide geographical area and can result in widespread morbidity and mortality (Madhav et al, 2017). Various governments have imposed restrictions on citizens' movements, canceled social activities, and advised people to stay at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Laato et al, 2020). The grim fact is that thousands of people have experienced and will continue to experience the negative impacts of COVID-19, including its induced constraints (Dwivedi et al, 2020).…”

COVID-19 as ‘Game Changer’ for the Physical Activity and Mental Well-Being of Augmented Reality Game Players During the Pandemic: Mixed Methods Survey Study

“…With government-issued restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic encouraging—or requiring—individuals to stay at home, playing AR games in the manner in which they were originally designed has become challenging [ 10 , 16 ]. Niantic Inc implemented several in-game changes to Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite to prevent these restrictions from having deleterious effects on the player’s experience; therefore, these games are easier to play at home and in social isolation [ 17 ].…”

“…Niantic Inc implemented several in-game changes to Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite to prevent these restrictions from having deleterious effects on the player’s experience; therefore, these games are easier to play at home and in social isolation [ 17 ]. These changes ensured that Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite continued to be popular [ 16 ]. However, these changes did not necessarily translate to improved physical and mental well-being for players, as many gameplay features designed to promote physical activity and social activity were removed or altered [ 16 ].…”

“…These changes ensured that Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite continued to be popular [ 16 ]. However, these changes did not necessarily translate to improved physical and mental well-being for players, as many gameplay features designed to promote physical activity and social activity were removed or altered [ 16 ]. This study sought to examine the physical and mental well-being of players of Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as how players viewed the roles played by AR games and video games in general in their mental health during the pandemic.…”

Educational and Social Exergaming: A Perspective on Physical, Social, and Educational Benefits and Pitfalls of Exergaming at Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Afterwards

“…Developers of exergames can quickly adapt to changes such as the current pandemic (cf. Laato et al, 2020). Nevertheless, there are also long-lasting exergame series, for instance, dance exergames that can be played on different consoles or only with a smartphone and a display device (e.g., Ubisoft, 2021a,b).…”