There is no doubting the remarkable growth that we have seen for the online entertainment industry within the last decade and COVID has now further accelerated this to new heights. We have seen this across so many different areas, from traditional gaming, to online casinos and poker and of course live sport and online streaming services. Online casino has proven a go-to for players around the world, whether this be in Canada, the US or the UK and the rest of Europe. An example of this is through the JackpotCity online casino, which has been offering some of the leading bonuses on deposits, which has further added players onto the platform. Players will also not run out of amazing games, as there are endless offers available on Jackpot city casino. These have provided a great means of entertainment, whilst people are stuck in lockdowns and have had restrictions enforced upon them. This alongside many of the land-based establishments remaining closed and could this yet be a trend that we see moving forward, with innovative technology being released, such as Virtual reality casinos.

These are some key examples of just a few parts of why the overall online entertainment industry is continuing to surge in popularity. Movies also continue to be a major part of this, with different streaming platforms hitting the market to now look at rivalling the long-standing dominance of Netflix.  The latter was founded back in 1997 and by July 2020, it had become the largest entertainment/media company in the world. Netflix had surpassed 195 million paid subscribers by the latter period of 2020 and was now operating in over 190 countries world-wide. The company had been through a stuttering period but there is absolutely no doubting that COVID has played a very positive role for the company, alongside many other online entertainment companies.

Netflix initially saw a major surge in the opening period of 2020 and of course the first lockdowns that were enforced in many areas around the world. This saw them add an additional 16 million new customers, which was also double what they had predicted for the period. This is also a trend that continued for Netflix throughout 2020, with restrictions continuing to be enforced for many and a normal way of life changing. 2021 has also now started on a similar footing, so the company could yet continue to see a surge in numbers, despite some being pessimistic about the future and when the COVID era is over, with the stock also continuing to fluctuate. 

However, it has not just been about Netflix when it comes to these popular movie streaming services and there are now many others hitting the market for consumers. This includes the likes of Now TV, Apple TV, Disney and of course Amazon Prime Video. Each have also been very successful throughout this period and will be looking to challenge Netflix within the movie market. Amazon Prime Video could be the one, with Amazon having scaled to some remarkable heights in 2020, with the company also now getting involved in many other areas of entertainment, such as with live sport. It will now be fascinating to see the continuing success of the overall online entertainment industry and the impact that we see, once the restrictions are finally over.