The Gaming Industry Really Needs To Run Through Its Ethical Code In The Wake Of Corona Pandemic

The worldwide Covid 19 pandemic is wreaking havoc across all industries, so it doesn’t come off as much of a surprise that it would affect the gaming industry as well. As offices close down globally as nations try to limit social contact among humans in a bid to contain the spread of the virus, the release of some of the biggest game releases this year could be postponed to either later this year or even be pushed to somewhere in 2021.

On top of this, the gaming industry will also have to grapple with some major ethical issues here. There is a major chance that many mobile game development companies will jump on the trend and try to create controversial games that pander to the global attention that Corona Virus is getting at the moment. And while trend jacking is in itself, nothing bad, this is something that could potentially lead to Google and Apple revisiting their app review policies and making them more stringent, thereby hurting the gaming industry even more in the long run. The problem basically lies in the fact, that small-time Android game development or iOS game development firms will definitely try to build games that revolve around themes like fighting pandemics, post-pandemic apocalyptic scenarios, etc. and there will be a backlash to it.

So is there something the wider gaming community can do to ensure that the Corona Virus pandemic doesn’t hurt it too much in the long run either financially or even though it’s ethical standing? Yes, there is. Firstly the game development companies that are currently highly influential like Tencent can come together to ensure that there is a strict moratorium on such games being developed at the moment or in the foreseeable future at least. They can do this by restricting the coverage of such games by top publications, YouTubers etc. in a bid to ensure that these games don’t gain traction at all. Secondly, they can talk to game publishing platforms like Google Play or Apple App Store to implement policies that stop the upload of such games to their platforms. Thirdly, the wider gamer community, i.e. the people who actually play these games, could be reached out to and be told that they need to influence others not to play these games and strictly denounce them.