In the past few months, innovations developed in gaming technology have become increasingly relevant. After all, who knows more about live-streaming and video than gamers? The overlap between gaming and virtual connection has existed since the days of Xbox. With mobile devices, the desire to play games with others in real-time has gone mainstream. Apps that allow you to compete either with people you know (Words with Friends) or with strangers (HQ Trivia) have cycled in and out of fashion for the last few years.
Today, people are looking for ways to connect without leaving their homes, but, as a spate of recent articles with both scientific and anecdotal evidence have shown, Zoom fatigue is real. Being on video calls all day is tiring, even if only some of those calls are for work. Socializing with friends via video demands attention and a level of engagement that’s different from simply hanging out. Though scheduled video chats were the default communication method in the early weeks of the lockdown, many people have started to get creative about ways to keep in touch.
A number of apps and web-based platforms designed for a Gen-Z audience (all of which predate the crisis) attempt to solve this problem by creating virtual experiences that mimic the kinds of things people do when they meet up. After all, you don’t just stare into your friend’s eyes for 30 minutes straight when you grab a drink or go for a walk. Instead, you share an experience. You watch a movie, play a game, listen to music. Airtime, Discord, Squad, and Bunch all allow friends to do one or more of these things together, virtually. Squad, for example, an app originally popular among teenage girls, allows groups of up to nine to watch TikTok and YouTube as well as screenshare to watch subscription services like Netflix. (Related but different is the third-party Netflix Party chrome extension, which syncs playback and allows people to group chat while watching the same thing remotely.)
Another player is Houseparty which combines video chat with games, trivia and live events. Epic Games bought the company for an undisclosed sum last June (the app’s last private valuation was about $70 million). Houseparty is ad-free, but Epic is considering offering in-app purchases, as it does for games like Fortnite. This weekend, Houseparty is hosting “In the House,” a 3-day festival on the app that friends can co-watch together. Headlining talent includes John Legend and Katy Perry, among a mixed bag of things other than musical performances including cooking demos from food personalities like José Andrés and Christina Tosi, a magic show from Neil Patrick Harris, and a workout routine with Cam Newton.
Houseparty CEO and co-founder Sima Sistani recently told Variety that Houseparty’s goal is to bring back “appointment viewing,” something people are craving as days have started to roll into each other. With this virtual event Sistani says, Houseparty is “trying to capture that feeling of sitting on the couch for that special show with your family or friends on a Friday night.” It’s nice to know that, with a little planning, the next generation of video chat apps allow you to create that vibe any time.
