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Tech

Pandemic triggers surge in demand for online games created by North Wales developer

Gareth Thomas, who lives in Betws-yn-Rhos, said people spending more time at home had increased demand

FreeGames.org company founder Gareth Thomas

North Wales game developer FreeGames.org has experienced a massive increase in demand for their online games since the Covid-19 pandemic was declared in March.

Company founder Gareth Thomas, who lives in Betws-yn-Rhos, started to develop games while at university as a hobby.

It proved a huge success with him developing more than 100 web games – with titles like Red Remover and Super Stacker 2 attracting millions of plays.

He has now seen a surge in demand over the crisis.

He said: “Since the beginning of the pandemic people have spent 4.2 million hours playing games on FreeGames.org. That is a 68% increase on the same period last year (2.5 million hours).

"Not only are we seeing 47% more players but they are also playing for a longer period of time during each visit. The average session duration has increased by 21%."

He said 80% of visitors are over the age of 55.

He added: “Many of us are spending more time at home this year.