The past year has certainly been a very difficult time for many of us with uncertainty around every corner, and although 2021 is seemingly off to a similar start, it is certainly looking like there is some light at the end of the tunnel with news of vaccines and a positive trend toward lower cases. The big help throughout the past year has certainly come in the different forms of online entertainment that have been thriving throughout the year, but which have topped the list as the most popular forms of entertainment throughout?
Livestreaming – One of the biggest winners has certainly been within the upward trend of livestreaming that has been around for the better part of a decade – the lockdown period had led to many of the biggest streamers staying live for longer hours than previously and also a surge of new content creators setting up their own stream too, with the successes of other features such as esports on this market too livestreaming is certainly moving away from what had previously been a niche interest and into a well known interest. It has certainly become amongst the most popular forms of online entertainment and shows no signs of slowing down.
Gaming – Another of the big successes in entertainment for a long period of time has been within gaming particularly on mobile devices, but this past year in particular have seen numbers swell in many different genres. Of course, you can never go wrong with gaming on televisions, as this is still something that many gamers like to get involved in. All you need is a great television, from somewhere like VIZIO (look here for more information), gaming headsets, and a variety of games to choose from, and you are good to go. Whilst this is something that has always been around, lockdown generated more users in alternative areas too. The most popular in the gaming market recently has certainly been within online casinos as a growing number of unique feature options such as no verification casinos here continue to thrive and lead the way for gaming during lockdown – some many even find a permanent change as offline locations remain closed, and online alternatives continue to lead the way for change.
Video-on-demand – There’s often a confusion between steaming and video-on-demand. Some such as AT&T TV allow you to stream live channels as well as watch your favourite entertainment on demand, but platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime fit into the latter category. This is what has given rise to what is now known as ‘binge-watching’ as entire TV series are available to views at the click of a button. With announcements that many would be seeing a huge increase in new releases throughout the year with Netflix primed to release 71 new titles in 2021 alone, and with big studios such as Warner Bros announcing that their big releases throughout the year will launch directly to video-on-demand services too, forgoing the big box office releases that have been seen in recent cinema and instead moving to primarily online.
This next year will certainly be important in deciding the future of online entertainment, but this past year has certainly shown that it has become an ingrained part of our day to day but has also shown just how important many of these platforms are moving forward, and how important they have been thus far too.