Viral outbreaks and pandemics have been the subject of many video games. Usually, the virus mutates and the infected turn into zombies or similar anomalies that your character must fight to save humanity. Resident Evil and The Last of Us are a few that dealt with the mutating virus. The Division and Syphon Filter tackle the biological viruses that manifest as viral diseases that have no monster representation but are just as frightening and deadly. Who knew that in 2020, the latter would become our reality because of a coronavirus known as COVID-19. With no known cure, our only defense has been to wash our hands properly and quarantine.For many of us gamers, the term social distancing may be new, but the practice is not. As we find ourselves temporarily out of work or school and forced to stay home to keep the virus from spreading, it has been a challenge for some to find sanity in isolation. With no end in sight, social distancing practices will need to be enforced for several more weeks, possibly months. Gamers of course immediately took to their favorite pastime to cope. Now, even the World Health Organization is recommending people play video games to help cope with confinement.This is huge considering the World Health Organization (WHO) previously classified game addiction as an official mental health disorder. Ray Chambers, U.S. ambassador to the WHO recently tweeted support of continued social distancing by picking up a game to help save lives. He added the hashtag #PlayApartTogether which is WHO’s movement uniting people around the world while asking them to keep their distance.

Several game companies including Activision Blizzard, Twitch, and Riot Games have joined the #PlayApartTogether movement. Through special events, exclusives, activities, rewards, the movement hopes to encourage players to exercise WHO’s health guidelines such as physical distancing, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and other preventive actions to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. The #PlayApartTogether movement is telling the world: “Wherever you are, whatever game you play, you can make a difference.” While we have always known the true power of games, it’s exciting to see gaming being universally praised as a powerful tool in taking down the ultimate boss known as COVID-19.

It also happens to be a very exciting time for games at the moment. Last week Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal released, as well as new DLC content for Control and Borderlands 3. This week it’s rumored that the Modern Warfare 2 remastered campaign will stealth release, possibly March 31. Or, if you like your video games to mirror your nightmares, I mean reality, the Resident Evil 3 remake is out this Friday. So, what games are you guys playing to help you get through the coronavirus? Let us know in the comments.