Nur Faizah Abdul KaharFarhana SabriHanifah Abdul HamidNuradli Ridzwan Shah Mohd DaliAzreena Abu Bakar2024-05-282024-05-2820232023-8-16: Kahar, N. F. A., Sabri, F., Hamid, H. A., Dali, N. R. S. M., & Bakar, A. A. (2023). Amid Covid19: The Rise of Gaming Addiction. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 13(5), 2520 – 2535.2222-699010.6007/IJARBSS/v13-i5/14834https://hrmars.com/index.php/IJARBSS/article/view/14834/Amid-Covid-19-The-Rise-of-Gaming-Addictionhttps://oarep.usim.edu.my/handle/123456789/7339Vol. 13, No. 5, 2023, Pg. 2520 – 2535The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the social lifestyles of millions of people all over the world. It is a serious threat to public health and has spread rapidly around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the first reported case, which originated in Wuhan, on January 12, 2020. Meanwhile, on January 25, 2020, the first case in Malaysia was reported. To break the Covid-19 chain, the Malaysian government imposed a Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18, 2020. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on the gaming addiction situation among Malaysian adolescents through the implementation of MCO. METHODOLOGY: This study focuses on Malaysian adolescents aged 18 to 21 who engage in online gaming, either mobile gaming or desktop gaming. The study's methodology includes an online survey via Google Forms and an online focused group (FG) session. Before being invited to the focused group discussion, participants were asked to complete an online screening survey using Dr. Kimberly S. Young's Young - Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire (IADQ; 1998). (FGD). The FGD result is recorded and transcribed for the analysis process. RESULT: Participants reported spending 4 to 5 hours on weekdays and more than 6 hours on weekends playing Mobile Legend (ML), their preferred online gaming platform. Furthermore, it was reported that siblings and friends influenced respondents to participate in online gamingen-USAddictive Behaviours, Compulsive Behaviours, Online Gaming Disorder, AdolescenceArticle25202535135