IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE GAMING COMMUNITY: THE CASE OF RUSSIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

The introduction of self-isolation policies in many countries has led to an increase in the amount of time spent by active gamers in games, and also helped to raise the value of shares of gaming companies. Statistical analysis, questionnaires, and data visualization methods were used in this study. Previous studies have relied mainly on data collected during the first wave of the CO VID-19 pandemic and therefore have not been able to properly determine the effects of the second wave. The study is based on an online survey (Google Forms and Microsoft Excel Forms) of students and working people who mostly have played games. The questionnaire presented the following types of questions: alternative closed questions, which are questions containing a fixed number of choices of which you can choose only one; not alternative closed questions, which you can select more than one answer and open questions, which do not contain hints and do not require that the respondent answers the question in any particular format. The questionnaire was designed to understand the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on the gaming community. The results of this study show that approximately one-third, of gamers began to spend more hours playing games during the pandemic and gaming companies profits' greatly increased. The results of the research work can be used to preelict gamers' behavior within disruptions caused by the pandemic and be helpful for specialists of different areas, including psychologists and other professionals, connected with gamers and gaming activities.