Video games have long provided players with a chance to escape reality, but in 2020, they took on much larger roles, serving as exercise companions and social gathering places — filling urgent needs in this coronavirus-altered year.

Why it matters: 2020's transformations will likely outlast the pandemic. While some people who boosted their video game use this year will scale back, others will keep gaming in a central place in their lives.

The big picture: If 2019 was the year that parents got serious about screen time limits, 2020 was the year those limits went out the window.

• For many students, especially teens and tweens, recess and breaks meant more screen time — including using games like Roblox and Minecraft as ways to socialize while physically distant.

That drove usage figures through the roof.

• Minecraft, for example, saw a nearly 90% increase in multiplayer sessions following the start of the pandemic.
• In October, Roblox pulled in a world record 1.7 million concurrent players to Adopt Me!, the most popular game on its platform.
• By November, engagement on Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s subscription game service, had more than doubled from a year earlier, the company reports.

Games like Minecraft and Roblox filled in as virtual substitutes for shuttered concert halls and canceled Thanksgiving gatherings. Xbox recently launched a campaign to get older people in on gaming to connect with their grandkids.

• Active games like Just Dance and Fitness Boxing served two very important functions at once, combining fun and a workout.
• And, of course, video games continued to play their customary part, transforming us from couch potatoes to superheroes, star athletes — or even, in the case of the extremely popular Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a creature ruling and customizing, an island.

Between the lines: While gaming had a huge year, it wasn't in all the ways you might think.

• The Nintendo Switch, which works as both a portable game device and as a TV set-top console, was the best-selling video game system, even after the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X hit the market last month.
• Those new consoles were in short supply, so it's not like people didn't want them. But the three-year-old Switch has versatility and affordability that made it especially suited to the pandemic year — and it, too, was frequently sold out or in short supply all year.
• Virtual reality still hasn't broken through to the masses, but after years of underperforming expectations, it made important, if quiet, gains, led by the debut of Facebook's Oculus Quest 2. The Quest showed itself capable of delivering impressive exercise apps, virtual concerts and even some forays into workplace collaboration.

What's next: Expect gaming to return somewhat to its roots next year, as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X become more widely available. The pricey consoles will sell in large numbers, but largely to those who have been attracted to console gaming in the past.

• We'll be watching what happens to the pandemic gamers — whether those who picked up a controller or headset out of boredom will keep playing after they get vaccinated.

Go deeper:

• Hardware will determine virtual reality's future
• Animal Crossing emerges as the game for the coronavirus era

Gaming — from board games to video games — played an outsized role in my own family in 2020, offering something to do together and, for each of us, a chance to enter a universe that was within our grasp, even when the world seemed out of control.

I'm not a hard-core gamer, preferring simple games to ones that require I learn lots of complicated button combinations. I'm happy to go a generation or two between console purchases, and I'm fine playing the same games over and over.

In 2020, I enjoyed the familiar but also ventured into new territory.

• I tried out Microsoft's Xbox Series X, using it to replace the real-life pinball I couldn't play. For Hanukkah, AJ got me NHL 21, which I am still trying to get a handle on (and already have a blister from), but am greatly enjoying.
• I gave Beat Saber and other games on the Oculus Quest a go, but my virtual reality quests hit limits thanks to the clutter of my real-world quarters.
• As in years past, I spent some time with Pokemon Go and appreciated the ways Niantic made up for the limits this year placed on my real-world travel.

As a family, we bought a bunch of games for the Switch, which Harvey got at the end of last year.

• AJ decided he needed a Switch of his own, opting for the less expensive and more readily available Switch Lite, with Animal Crossing: New Horizons becoming his go-to. That was extra timely as it helped ease the looming loss of his previous pastime: the original Farmville.

What's next: I hope to carry into the new year my willingness to try new video games, in large part because it's how my 8-year-old loves to connect. And I won't stop seeking relaxation from a good game of virtual pinball or solitaire. But I also long for the day when my real life leaves me less time for them.

Additional funding for antitrust enforcers to police Big Tech and copyright measures opposed by some in the tech industry are both included in Congress' big spending package unveiled Monday, Margaret Harding McGill and Ashley Gold report.

Why it matters: Both the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have been asking Congress for more money to conduct investigations and bring cases against phenomenally wealthy tech companies.

Driving the news:

• The FTC is getting $351 million for salaries and expenses, a boost of $20 million from 2020, which will go toward the agency’s competition, privacy and consumer protection work.
• The DOJ’s antitrust division is getting a boost of about $18 million, its biggest funding increase in years.
• Litigation and retaining experts for antitrust cases are expensive, and while these budget boosts won't level the field with companies like Google and Facebook, the agencies will be at less of a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, the spending package also includes intellectual property measures that tech industry group the Internet Association lobbied against:

• The creation of a small claims board within the Copyright Office to hear copyright infringement claims, which raises alarm bells for companies worried about increased litigation risks.
• A proposal from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) that will make illegal streaming of copyright material a felony, a measure backed by content companies including Fox Corp.
• The Trademark Modernization Act, which is meant to help fight trademark fraud by creating new procedures at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel registrations for trademarks that have not been used.

Smartphone users choose Google as their search engine because they prefer it, not because Google's deals with phone makers set it as a default, the search giant said in its first formal response to the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit charging monopolistic abuses, Ashley reports.

The big picture: The response offers Google's point-by-point rebuttal of the government's charges and asks the court to dismiss the suit, with the government reimbursing the company for its legal costs. The presiding judge has said a trial likely won't start until 2023.

• The Justice Department lawsuit accuses Google of using agreements with companies like Apple, Samsung and LG to lock in its dominance on phones, which regulators argue keep rivals like DuckDuckGo and Bing from gaining footholds in the market.

What they're saying:

• Google denies any suggestion that its deals with phone makers violate antitrust laws.
• "Any and all of Google's actions alleged by Plaintiffs were lawful, justified, pro-competitive and carried out in Google's legitimate business interests and constitute bonafide competitive activity," the response reads.

The big picture: Google is also fighting off two other antitrust lawsuits from state attorneys general — one from a group, led by Texas, that argues Google has an unfair monopoly on online advertising and another from a group of states including Colorado and Nebraska that charges Google with anti-competitive search practices.

Facebook next year plans to roll out mobile support for security tokens for users who want to take extra measures to protect their accounts, the company's head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher tells Axios.

Driving the news: Facebook will also expand its Facebook Protect security program to more types of accounts next year. The program will be made available to vulnerable users like journalists, human rights defenders and celebrities.

Facebook Protect includes additional security provisions, like two-factor authentication and real-time monitoring for potential hacking threats.

The security keys are advised for high-profile accounts, but will available for use to any Facebook account holder who wants one.

Yes, but: While hardware keys are a time-tested security control, they're not invulnerable, and they can be lost or stolen.

By the numbers: In 2020, Facebook estimates that over 70% of people who were closely involved with the U.S. election turned on two-factor authentication.

On Tap

• After all this reading about video games, don't you just want to play some Tetris, or Animal Crossing, or Madden?

Trading Places

• Disney made a key change in its studio leadership, with Alan Horn stepping down as co-chairman of Walt Disney Studios. He will remain at Disney as chief creative officer, while Alan Bergman will be the sole chairman of the studio.

ICYMI

• Russian hackers believed to be behind the massive SolarWinds cyberattack gained access to top Treasury Department officials' emails, a senator says. (Axios)
• Barry Diller's IAC announced plans to spin off its Vimeo video service at a $2.75 billion valuation. (Axios)
• Apple is said to be making progress with its autonomous car effort, with a goal of producing vehicles by 2024. (Reuters)
• Ripple, creator of the cryptocurrency XRP, says it's expecting to be sued by the SEC. (Axios)
• Opendoor went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. (Reuters)
• Peloton is buying fitness equipment maker Precor in a $420 million deal. (TechCrunch)
• Spotify plans to dominate audio ads in podcasts. (Axios)

Check out this giant outdoor xylophone from Japan that plays a Bach composition when a ball rolls over its keys.