Keeping occupied in a time of quarantine
Six weeks on the inside can change a person. It empties out their soul and makes them question their perception of the world. They say seven weeks will drive you completely over the edge, giving in to the temptations of artisanal home haircuts and sourdough starter. So it should come as no surprise that housebound people around the world are flocking to online diversions to help them ride out the pandemic with their head hairs intact.
Xbox Game Pass clears 10 million subscribers
With people now having a whole lot more “couch time” at their disposal, video game subscriptions are surging. Xbox announced this week that its all-you-can-play Game Pass platform now boasts 10 million subscribers worldwide. The $10 a month service has seen subscribers double their screen time since March along with a 130 percent jump in multiplayer sessions.
Twitter sees record user growth, thanks to COVID-19
Twitter has seen a 24 percent jump in its daily users since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, 166 million users in total. Because apparently we aren’t all collectively miserable enough as it is without it.
British Museum makes over half of its collection viewable online
Following the Smithsonian’s image release in February, the British Museum posted pictures of 4.5 million pieces in its collection online this week, nearly 300,000 of which have never been shown to the public. It’s a feel-good gesture in these uncertain times, so long as you ignore just where and how the British got all this stuff.
NHS healthcare workers in the UK have been given free access to 85,000 games
While they may not have sufficient supplies of PPE, workers for the UK’s National Health Service have access to more games than they could play in a lifetime thanks to the Games for Carers program. Because our priorities have to lie somewhere.
Spotify users are flocking to ‘chill’ playlists during COVID-19
With commutes a thing of the past, the number of people accessing Spotify from their homes instead of their cars has jumped 50 percent. And boy howdy do people like listening to podcasts on there. There are now more than a million podcasts available if you’re looking for something to listen to while you clean your apartment for the fourth time this week.
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