Gamers to be targeted with coronavirus ads to remind them to stay indoors during lockdown

The UK government has teamed up with some of the most popular gaming companies to broadcast its “Stay At Home, Save Lives” message in game play, in an attempt to encourage people not to leave their homes during the coronavirus outbreak.

The recent warm weather saw a spate of people sunbathing in public parks which goes against government guidelines to only leave your home once a day in order to exercise or go food shopping.

During the weekend, the UK health secretary Matt Hancock said even outdoor exercise could be banned if people continued to flout the social distancing rules.

As a result, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is working with companies such as Activision Blizzard, with its roster including games such as Candy Crush Saga and Farm Heroes Saga, as well as Codemasters, which owns DiRT Rally 2.0, to spread the message to gamers that they should stay inside.

Speaking about the campaign, culture secretary Oliver Dowden, said: “It is absolutely vital that we all follow the simple government advice to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives. I’m delighted to see the UK’s brilliant video games industry stepping up to strongly reinforce this message to gamers across the UK.”

Candy Crush fans will see the “Stay At Home” messaging appearing in the popular game - last year, the game reported it had 272 million active monthly players.

Humam Sakhnini, president of King, which is part of Activision Blizzard and behind games such as Candy Crush Saga, said: “Everyone at Activision Blizzard and the King team I lead are delighted that we’re able to play a small part and help with the delivery of vital public health information. Through our millions of players we’re able to assist Public Health England the NHS spread their life-saving message: stay at home, protect our NHS, and save lives.

Oxford-based games studio Rebellion, which is behind games such as Sniper Elite 4, will include the messaging on the landing pages of its games. Co-founder and CEO Jason Kingsley said the studio was “delighted” to be working with the DCMS on the initiative.

Gaming has proved to be an important touchstone during the lockdown, as people across the world play and interact with one another via digital environments. Animal Crossing has proved particularly popular in recent weeks whilst Disney even resurrected its massive online multiplayer game Club Penguin, which allows players to interact with one another using their penguin avatars, and now boasts six million players.

The London Games Festival, which takes place every year at the end of March, didn’t let the social distancing rules affect its schedule with many events taking place online instead, such as the Now Play This exhibition and the annual cosplay parade, which will take place on social media tonight.

Speaking about social distancing and the new way of working, head of games at Games London, Michael French said: “If anyone is going to innovate their way out of this, it’s going to be the games industry.”

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