As we hurtle towards the final few weeks of 2020, workers across the country are counting the days until they get a well-deserved break over the Christmas period. The almost 200,000 people of Renfrewshire and the more than half a million that live in nearby Glasgow are making the final preparations for the big day, including making sure they’ve bought all the gifts they need.
At the top of the most-wanted gifts list this year is the Sony PlayStation 5, followed closely behind by the Microsoft Xbox Series X and S. These ninth-generation game consoles are the most powerful devices that gamers have ever been able to get their hands on and they promise to deliver a huge step up in terms of graphics and gameplay.
This is why supermarkets and video game retailers across Renfrewshire and Glasgow have seen people lining up to try and get their hands on them. In Glasgow, billboards promoting the PlayStation 5 and the exclusive game Ratchet & Clank have appeared across the city in early December.
Scalpers and price gougers are also trying to cash in, with dozens of consoles available in Renfrewshire, Glasgow, and Falkirk on the classified ad site Gumtree. Most are on sale for around double the price found in retailers, but high demand and lack of supply is leading to these eye-watering figures. It’s made some people angry though, with one man from Glasgow pranking one seller as revenge.
But it’s not just consoles creating a stir among Scots this Christmas, industry experts are predicting all forms of gaming are going to be popular in the coming weeks.
Casino Games Are Expected To Become More Popular During Christmas Period
Having a card game with those close to us during Christmas has been popular for centuries, and 2020 is expected to be no different. Millions of Brits will be getting a deck of cards out to play games like poker, blackjack, go fish, gin rummy, crazy eights, snap, and war.
Other people go further, buying a roulette wheel and chips that they can set up in their living room. Though you need more space for this than you do with a pack of cards.
However, many people will be turning to a more high-tech way to enjoy these classic games this season. Online casinos that can be accessed through computers, tablets, and smartphones offer many variants of blackjack, roulette, and other games.
In 2020, the UK’s Gambling Commission reported that in the year to September 2020, people in Great Britain were more likely to have placed a bet online in the previous four weeks, than during previous surveys conducted since 2016.
Of these people, 85.4% of them had played casino games in the last four weeks. That’s up almost 10 percentage points in the same four weeks in 2019.
With people spending more time at home and less time at work in the final few weeks of the year, these figures will likely increase further.
Casual Games Are One Of The Best Quick Remedies For Boredom
Casual games represent one of the biggest growth areas in the gaming industry, with demand earlier in the year growing by 30%. This is on top of continued growth for much of the past decade.
These types of games are easy to play, usually have simple mechanics, and can be enjoyed for just a couple of minutes at a time. Examples include Angry Birds, Candy Crush, Farmville, and Plants vs Zombies.
They are often those played on smartphones, tablets, and through social media sites like Facebook. They became popular in the early 2010s as more people began to use social media and buy smartphones.
While some initially wrote them off as fads, demand for casual games has only continued to rise, with people of all ages and backgrounds finding them appealing. In particular, older people find casual games more appealing than traditional console titles thanks to them being easily accessible and readily available through Apple and Google’s app stores.
In Renfrewshire, where the population of people aged 45 to 64 is slightly higher than the average across Scotland, casual games are likely to be a big hit this Christmas. Especially as people begin to enjoy the new devices they received as gifts.
The Takeaway
In Renfrewshire, like in the rest of Scotland and the UK, gaming is going to be a big part of many people’s Christmas this year. With continued demand for casual games and online casinos expected to heat up as people spend more time off work, and thanks to the newly launched PS5 and Xbox consoles.