"Our lives have led up to this," my friends joked with me in mid-March.I had been sitting in my miniature New York City apartment, panicky and coming to terms with the fact that I would be trapped inside for months, potentially months. However, my friends reassured me that as lifelong video game fans, the prospect of sitting on a sofa in front of a TV for an interminable stretch could be a cakewalk. After all, gamers like me do already spend lots of time in front of our screens all independently.But sitting for hours, players aren't necessarily isolated. In many cases, far from it. With the growth of social networking, players -- particularly in Gen Z -- have mastered the craft of building communities in and around video games. Gamers don't only compete with strangers online, but forge genuine, enduring friendships.In this time of long-haul social distancing and mental-health breeds, players have long had a tool that's currently bringing some relief to people who've never picked up a control before. The explosive rise of gaming throughout the pandemic has proven that many have found a new outlet for much-needed connection in isolation.Gaming has skyrocketed throughout the pandemic, especially ones that connect you online with friends; games over movie chat have substituted in-person joyful hour for a lot (Credit: Alamy)When shelter-in-place orders came down, countless individuals around the globe turned to tech-fuelled diversions to remain in contact with family members and friends, such as Netflix Party movie viewings, Zoom chats and video games.There's the outer-space saboteur mobile game One of Us (which 100 million people have downloaded); and the Jackbox games that combine video chatting and elements of classics such as Pictionary, and who have acted as stand-ins for in-person joyful hours. Possibly the most well known is Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Launched in March, Nintendo's record-breaking Switch game that tripled the company's profits drops players in a small tropical city filled with talking anthropomorphic animal neighbours who help them redecorate their house, capture butterflies and develop fruit trees.Gaming has skyrocketed during the ordeal, reaching individuals who'd play every now and then, or even people who had snubbed it entirely. In the US alone, four out of five customers in one poll performed video games in the last six months, according to a new analysis by NPD, an American business-research business. And in a time where many industries are in dire straits, earnings in gambling are flourishing. International revenue is expected to jump 20% this year to $175bn (#130bn).The explosive growth of gaming throughout the pandemic has shown that many have found a new outlet for much-need connection in isolationBut although the concept of socialisation in a match is brand new to many, video game enthusiasts have been using tech like this to build friendships online and stay connected for decades.Mark Griffiths is a professor at Nottingham Trent University who is written about gaming friendships at the pandemic, and studied socialisation in video games for decades. Back in 2003, he released a study which showed a quarter of 11,000 players of the online role-playing game Everquest stated their favorite part of the game was linking with other players. He says that the study was a direct and ancient contradiction of this stereotype that video games have been isolating, and players antisocial (although those ancient pandemic memes jokingly played those stereotypes). In another study from 2007, he looked in 912 players of massively multiplayer online (MMO) role-playing games from 45 nations who played on average around 22 hours a week, concluding that the online game environment was"highly mutually interactive".He says,"half of these in the survey actually ended up forming intimate relationships outside the game... The idea of socialising at a game isn't new in any way." Fast forward to 2020, and Griffiths claims that when lockdowns began and people had nothing much to do,"perhaps they're gaming for the first time, and they realised that this was a socket you can obviously socialise in".The game Animal Crossing is now a phenomenon, standing for social interaction during lockdown -- and being the virtual website of parties and weddings (Credit: Alamy)As an example, in Animal Crossing, players can go to the cities of both real friends or strangers that discuss their village code online. Flying on a virtual seaplane in my brother's village, full of friendly koalas, is now our 2020 ritual since he proceeds to isolate out of Washington, DC, and we miss family holidays. I also visit friends scattered throughout the planet, including one from secondary college whom I haven't seen since 2000.Some individuals have held their birthday parties through Animal Crossing this calendar year, many others go on dates and a few couples who cancelled their weddings because of Covid-19 have even gotten married in the game. There's also an internet fan-made marketplace where players connect to trade fruits and rare furniture, called Nookazon. The site hosts trivia nights and chat meetups for Animal Crossing players.The pandemic"actually opened a great deal of people's eyes even non-gamers -- to what games can do to bring folks together," says Daniel Luu, the founder of Nookazon, who is a software developer and a busy gamer located in Washington, DC. He says among his website's most common top vendors is a 50-year-old woman who is"never played video games in her whole life". "I think the motive Animal Crossing has become so successful is because anyone can play with it. There are tons of cute items, heaps of fun characters, heaps of customisations," he states. "It really helped reveal that video games aren't just all, like, Call of Duty"Maybe they're gambling for the first time, and they realised that this was a socket you can naturally socialise in -- Mark Griffiths In September, she wrote a paper on Animal Crossing and the pandemic, published in the journal Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies. Zhu states Animal Crossing specifically provides laid-back escapism and calming feelings of security in these turbulent times -- that has helped bring new players into the hobby. "The pandemic has not only reduced face-to-face communication opportunities, but also allowed more individuals to learn about games as a publication platform to acquire social interaction"Amazon-owned Twitch, in which folks watch other people play video games in live webcasts, chatting in real time with the streamer and other viewers, clocked five billion hours of viewed content in the second quarter of 2020 alone. The engagement is an 83% rise from this past year. It is a new record."That is what we've been doing for years," says Erin Wayne, the company's director of community and creator marketing. It's he same match in which an elementary school in Japan held a digital graduation instead of an in-person ceremony due to Covid-19. She states the basic model of linking gamers with streamers"has not changed due to Covid".Wayne adds as Twitch is becoming more popular, it's expanded its platform beyond players, particularly during social-distancing restrictions in 2020. Book writers are hosting publication launches, musicians are holding concerts as well as drag queens are putting on shows, all subsequent to the gamer-streamer version. There are also new communities of players who've formed on the site, including LGBTQ players and gamers who've served in the armed forces.Jay-Ann Lopez says that games have helped old and new gamers alike"remain connected, societal and fair" throughout the pandemic (Credit: Krystal Neuvill)Like most communities, gaming has its own share of toxicity and hostility. But when Jay-Ann Lopez, a London-based gamer, established a closed Facebook set in 2015 known as Black Girl Gamers as a secure and inclusive area in the face of racism and sexism in the gaming community, she managed to construct a vibrant community that is since developed across platforms like Twitch. https://www.storeboard.com/blogs/photography/gambling-problems-are-seldom-brought-to-the-attention-of-family-practice-physicians-but-pathological-gambling-could-be-related-to-poor-emotional-and-physical-health-recent-availability-and-easy-accessibility-of-online-gambling-may-be-related-to-pathologic/4494810 , it hosted a summit of black female practitioners in the industry, which has long been dominated by white men.Lopez says that matches have helped new and old players alike"remain connected, societal and sane" throughout the pandemic. "For a long time, people have either looked down on that or known as gamers'weird', but now people and companies would like to know how to maintain relationships and communities . It's more accessible for people."So, although more people staring at a display might seem like an unhealthy dependence, the World Health Organization believes it could be key in nurturing our bonds with other people. Earlier this year, it launched #PlayApartTogether. And as mental health professionals stress the significance of relationships, community and connections in these times, they are even starting to discover direct psychological and societal benefits from gaming across the generations.Since the pandemic rolls and millions around the world face months of societal isolation, gaming is still a sudden lifeline. Those new players can continue gaming even as soon as they're allowed to socialise in person, also. A Google survey showed that 40% of new players say they are very likely to keep on playing video games after the pandemic.