Why summer hit Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is the perfect game for the coronavirus age
- Fall Guys is an easy-to-play online game for people of all ages that pits up to 60 online competitors in a series of obstacle courses
- It’s not the only well-timed summer release – time spent playing video games has increased during the pandemic as lockdown measures continue
The video game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout started out as an easy-to-play online multiplayer game for everyone – kids, parents and players of all ages.
But now, six months into the coronavirus pandemic, the cute, colourful addition to the battle royale genre – think Fortnite – has provided a salve to social isolation and an escape from the constant barrage of bad news. More than two million players have bought the game for PCs on the Steam video game marketplace since its August 4 release.
The buzz is hot with this one. While it’s not an apples-and-oranges comparison, consider that Taylor Swift sold and streamed the equivalent of 846,000 copies of her new album, Folklore, in the first week, according to Nielsen Music. Fall Guys has been out less than a week.
Fall Guys’ popularity goes beyond PCs because the game is “also wildly successful” on Sony’s PlayStation Plus subscription game service for PlayStation 4, says Mike Wilson, industry veteran and co-founder of the game’s publisher, Devolver Digital.
“The Taylor Swift Folklore comparison is important, as it’s the first time in my 25 years of doing this pretty successfully that my daughters have ever been remotely impressed by anything relating to my work,” Wilson says.
