It could be a small surge but something where you noticed a sudden influx of people. Maybe a game you were playing that got quite popular after it was streamed or there was free weekend on Steam.
For example during the quarantine and around the time when the used console market got prohibitively expensive handheld emulators like the RG350 and much later the Miyoo Mini got quite popular. This was partially due to more people at home wanting to play their favorite classics but also them being promoted as “fake” GameBoys and PSPs on TikTok.
Tbh gaming as a whole. I’m 34, and I’ve played video games basically my whole life. When I was young, it was a niche interest. It grew rapidly, but I remember when we were a fairly small number. Now gaming is so assumed that individual games are hobbies. Gaming language is embedded in our culture. I remember it being a rare novelty that few people understood and fewer took seriously.