A UK government thinktank has come to the conclusion that young people forced to self-isolate or stay at home as a result of the ongoing pandemic should get free video games as an incentive/reward for compliance.
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) published its report on Friday, which recommended that young people should be provided with "free data, streaming and gaming". SAGE's reasoning for this, as per the report, is that those in the UK aged 18-29 were "substantially lower and declining" to adhere to the current guidance, mostly as a result of lack of trust in the UK government.
"Young people asked to isolate or stay at home should be provided with good financial and other support e.g. free mobile phone data, streaming and gaming," the report read.
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"Young people are more oriented towards immediate experiences and rewards than long term consequences," the report added. "Interventions should provide short-term rewards for adherence" including the official advice that "streaming and gaming services" should be provided free of charge for those who find themselves self isolating.
This is a nice idea, and you certainly won't find any opposition on it from GAMINGbible. Of course, I should also point out that a lot of developers and publishers have already been doing this for months. During the first lockdown, the likes of Ubisoft, GOG.com, and PlayStation were giving away free video games on a fairly regular basis in an effort to keep those of us stuck inside occupied and happy.
Still, it's great that SAGE is now advising the government as we begin our second nationwide lockdown that it should officially throw its weight behind such initiatives. It definitely should!
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No, people shouldn't need incentives to stay in and follow guidelines - protecting the NHS and saving lives should be incentive enough - but given much of what has happened in the last few months, we're clearly at the point that the government needs to do a bit more than just expect people will do what it asks. Whether that's right or wrong is up to you, but that's where we're at.
While SAGE and the government might not actually hook us up with free games during lockdown, GAMINGbible has plenty of freebies for you to potentially get your hands on. From now until the end of the month, we're hosting regular competitions on our Twitter and Instagram pages, where you can win games like Watch Dogs Legion, Doom Eternal, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. To find out more, just head here.
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