The release of two popular video games has prompted gamers from across the city to press pause on some of the social distancing measures recommended by health experts in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

A long lineup has formed outside EB Games on Yonge Street in Toronto’s downtown core as people wait to get their hands on 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons' and 'Doom.'

“I’m actually like living with my grandparents right now so I have to be a little bit extra careful. I have hand sanitizer in my backpack. Like I’m super careful about stuff,” a woman lining up for 'Animal Crossing' told CP24 on Friday.

“But I don’t know, something about this game, you just have to come and get your hands on it.”

She said the game serves as a distraction from everything that has been going on in the outside world.

“This is a game about life and about living a life that is almost perfect in a way,” she added.

The company’s decision to keep stores open comes one day after Toronto Public Health urged all non-essential businesses in the city to close to help prevent further spread of the virus.

In a statement on the company’s website, EB Games said it is “working diligently” to provide customers and staff with the “safest environment possible.”

“We are taking action to institute multiple social distancing practices in our stores, such as only allowing a maximum of 10 customers in our stores at any given time, will no longer be accepting cash or trades, cancelling all gaming events and midnight launch activities until further notice, introducing in-store line management practices that creates a 1-meter perimeter between customers in checkout lines, and encouraging customers to leverage our online ecommerce capabilities and direct deliveries to their homes from our warehouse or stores,” the company’s statement read.

“We have been aggressively sourcing additional safety products and sanitary supplies to implement heightened cleaning practices on all high-touchpoint surfaces within our stores, as well as more accessible hand sanitization stations.”

EB Games

The company went on to say that today, stores will not be allowing walk-in traffic and will only be allowing customers who have reserved ‘Animal Crossing’ and ‘Doom’ access to the store to pick up their games.

“We are all in this together and we are continuing to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic closely, following the guidelines provided by our Canadian Government and World Health Organization, while satisfying our gamers demand for the product they want in a manner that protects both our customers and our associates,” the company concluded.