It's no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic saw a lot of people using videogames to stave off lockdown blues, and the Jackbox Party Pack games were especially well-suited for the role: easy-to-understand party fare that's optionally family-friendly and easy to play over a video call. PC Gamer said as much back in March 2020.
In a recent interview with PC Gamer associate editor Ted Litchfield, Jackbox Games CEO Mike Bilder said that the pandemic proved transformative for the developer.
"The industry at large obviously saw a lot of success at that time, but we did as well, and we went from a gamer name to a household name," he said, noting it was an "unfortunate period of time for the world, but for the gaming industry, a good one, and for Jackbox, a good one as well."
"That was kind of a leveling up for Jackbox as a company," said Bilder. "Suddenly office workers are doing happy hours and families over weekends are connecting over a game of Whiplash or something because it's what you did when you were locked down. People realized how easy it was to just share the screen over a Zoom call and everyone's playing."
It surprised employees at the studio to see how popular the games had become.
Chief marketing officer Brooke Hofer recalled a scene in the 2022 Knives Out sequel Glass Onion, where characters could be seen playing Quiplash over a Zoom call: "I remember when we all saw that in the studio, and we're like, 'Whoa,' you know. But that was so many people's experience at that time, and it was cool how that was captured in pop culture in various ways."
