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How’s this for a New Year’s Eve party? Fireworks, unlimited free drinks, and it’s open all night long. But first, you’ll need to grab some key items on a quest through the fantasy world of Azeroth. Thousands around the world will spend their New Year’s Eve inside World of Warcraft, just one of the hugely popular online worlds where gamers will be celebrating as the clock strikes midnight.
Cassie, who streams on Twitch as GeekyCassie, will be logging on with some of her 9,200 followers. Previously she’s also celebrated the New Year inside RPG Elder Scrolls Online and Nintendo’s cute and colourful Animal Crossing, where you build a new home on an island paradise.
“It was really sweet,” she says. In World of Warcraft, Cassie remembers: “People were shooting things up in the air to make it look like fireworks.”
Festive themes have become increasingly common in online games, and many lay on special limited-time events in December and January. Cashing in on the season isn’t exclusive to gaming, but it does allow developers to give their communities a reason to log on at a time of year when they might be distracted by family gatherings or another big entertainment release.
Anyone playing Fortnite – on an average day that’s about 30 million people – can take a break to look to the sky. They’ll see a descending disco ball, followed by a firework explosion shaped like the game’s famous llama. Because people worldwide play the game, these displays took place every hour, on the hour, throughout the day last year.
Cassie says it’s a really fun addition to the game, where “people just celebrate and do lots of emotes (dances) when things are going off”.
For anyone who hasn’t tried it before, Cassie says one advantage of a virtual party is that it can save a lot of money compared with a real world night out. “It’s a good way to start the year, because as much as people use games to escape, it’s also a connection to other people.”
According to the NHS, approximately one in eight people aged between 17 and 22 said they felt lonely often or always. Some have blamed online games for that, but streamers like Johan believe they actually do more help than harm.
Streaming is a great outlet to connect to an audience who might be looking for some company, during a time when they might be tackling loneliness. “It’s a beautiful thing.” He also recognises there are plenty of people who can’t go out because of limited mobility or because it’s simply too expensive.
Twitch streamer Warwick agrees that community is one of the big reasons for going live while others might be heading out of the house to party. Warwick, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, will be playing party games, before streaming different fireworks displays from around the world live.
It’s something they’ve been doing for two years now. “It’s like inviting people around the world to a party,” says Warwick. “And the great thing is there’s no cleaning up afterwards, so it’s better, I’d say.”
Warwick says New Year has become an important moment to connect with followers, many of whom might be feeling lonely or isolated. “You may move away, you might have lost family and friends around you,” they say. “The great thing about streaming is you can connect with so many people.”
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