Comment & Opinion

Covid-19: What comes next?

Jon Jordan looks at what's to come in a post-coronavirus world

Covid-19: What comes next?

If you're not already working remotely (or self isolating), why not?

Over the coming days, it seems pretty clear all governments will be forced into forcing us all into this position as it becomes clearer the most dangerous aspect of Covid-19 isn't its direct fatality rate - problematic as that is - rather the order of magnitude increase that happens when medical services are overwhelmed.

And that's the good news.

By acting together in a sensible manner, we all can reduce the impact of this disease, reducing what still has the potential to be a disaster of many terrible months' duration into a difficult but ultimately manageable crisis.

But that's not what I want to discuss. Instead, I'm interested in what comes next; what the post-Covid 19 world looks like.

The bright light

Already I think we see some of the more decadent cultural aspects of 21st century life stripping away, hopefully never to return.

Equally, when combined with ongoing trends around climate change and slow living, post-Covid 19 views on international travel in general and conference attendance may be very different

Our views on the work-life balance - especially where and how we work - are also certain to shift. 

Perhaps we can also hope for a new spirit of cooperative localism, especially around the long term issue of caring for our aging populations.

And without being facile, it's worth thinking about the impact on gaming.

I think this will be evident both in terms of the short term bounce we're already seeing in terms of player engagement and spending in our increasingly locked-down world, as well as a renewed focus on how games can build positive global communities.

Post-Covid 19, the world will be a strange combination; in many ways the same as before, but also more sad, more fragile, and perhaps for these reasons more open and excited by new opportunities.

So let's use this time wisely, in every sense.

This piece originally appeared in our PocketGamer.biz newsletter. For more insights and opinions from Jon Jordan direct to your inbox, sign up at the bottom of the page.


Contributing Editor

A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.