There has been a massive growth in the number of children engaged in online games and computer games over the past one year, according to major game providers.
Ever since the schools were closed in the wake of the Covid-19 related issues, the games sector witnessed nearly 80 per cent growth against the previous year's somewhat stable market, they said.
"There has been tremendous growth as far as the demand for all sorts of games and game software, equipment and other accessories are concerned. The rise is nothing less than 70 per cent," says Mustafa Chenoth of Gamer Zone.
A study report on children’s gaming habits by the CS Mott National Poll suggests that 86 per cent of parents know that their adolescent children are spending excessive time playing video games.
The report further underlined that twice as many teenage boys spend more time gaming than adolescent girls. On an average, according to the parent survey, teenage boys are spending around three hours a day playing video games.
For games-related software and games, consoles and PC games sales, the school vacation period is the peak time, whereas exam months are off-peak months.
"Unlike in the past when we had peak months and off-peak months for the games and related software, the past 12 months were a steady market season," added Shamees and Rajesh.
Games providers in various shopping malls further said that although the live in-games inside the games shops have been banned, more people made a games console inside their houses and were depending upon software bought online and shops.
"We have provided many games consoles inside various homes in the Sultanate whose demand too was astounding. It's good to see that kids are engaged in intellectually challenging games along with their studies," adds Mustafa.
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