The COVID-19 pandemic hit India pretty hard. The number of new cases has increased from around a thousand new cases a day in April to more than 50,000 daily cases in August.
As a result, Indians have no choice but to listen to what the government is telling them and stay at home as much as possible. However, staying at home for such long periods is not something that people are used to, so most Indians have to find some activities to keep them busy.
Some Indians are now starting to do the DIY projects and hobbies they always wanted to do but never had the time for before the pandemic. The more skillful among them are trying their hands at things such as carpentering, drawing, or gardening, while others are indulging in creative writing or reading books.
The majority of Indians, though, are turning to the online entertainment industry to pass the time. Here are some of the things that they spend most of their time on.
Online casinos
The biggest increase in popularity is happening in the online casino segment. Indians were passionate casino players even before the pandemic struck. Once it did, they took their love for online gambling to a whole new level.
In the past, even the most passionate casino players settled only for one or two gambling sites that they trusted. However, now that they have more time, they are starting to explore new casino sites too.
Indian players are attracted by the enticing bonuses these new casinos offer and the variety of free spins, cashbacks, and reloads they promise are often the only points of comparison. This can lead to some serious safety problems if the casino you find is a fraudulent one and wants to scam you.
The risks that come with playing casino games online mean that you should always verify that an online casino is legit before you play there. A lot of players prefer to check with websites in order to find safe Indian casinos. These specialized sites tell you all you need to know about the casino and go deeper than just presenting the bonuses.
Once Indians find their safe and secure online casino, they start making the most of their gambling experience instantly. The newer casino players tend to choose the slot games and jackpots, while more experienced Indian players go for table games such as blackjack, poker, baccarat, and roulette.
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Online games and eSports
It’s not just casino games that are very popular right now. The same thing is happening with popular video games. MOBAs such as League of Legends and Dota 2, as well as shooter games like CS:GO are suddenly becoming even more popular than they were before and Indians can’t get enough of them.
The competitive eSports scene reflects these developments too. As soon as it was evident that people would have to stay at home, most eSports tournaments migrated online and that presented a unique opportunity for Indian computer game enthusiasts. They could now watch their favorite eSports all day long and even take part in some amateur tournaments themselves.
What is more, the fact that eSports are one of the few sports that are taking place regularly during the pandemic means that Indian punters have something to bet on as well. During March and April, the eSports competitive scene was the only one that was active and this made the sport and betting on it much more popular than before.
Streaming services and sharing platforms
Streaming services such as Netflix and video-sharing platforms such as YouTube skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic. Indians who never had the time to watch the best rom-coms because they were too busy now have all the time in the world. And they are doing just that.
Because of the increased traffic, some of these streaming services even have to reduce the quality of their streams so that all of their users can get what they pay for.
That was the case with Netflix. They had to reduce video quality back in March so that all their viewers can watch Netflix during the first COVID-19 peak in Europe. They did this for more than just the one month they initially planned for and only started restoring streaming quality in mid-May.