Remember those days when you were a kid, and all you wanted to do when you grew up was play video games and make money? Who would have thought that would become such a lucrative business today? Many game companies offer gamers a chance to play their games and earn money as they do.
The lucrative business of gaming
Gaming has become more than a simple way to pass the time. For many enthusiasts, it is a passion and a hobby. Whatever your opinions on video games are, it has captured the hearts of the young and young at heart alike.
In 2019, game developer Valve, the pioneer of the multiplayer online game DoTA 2 (Defense of the Ancients), recorded an astounding 34.3 million USD prize money for its 2019 gaming contest. The event gathered players and gaming enthusiasts at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China.
It was then projected in that same year that the video game industry would reach an estimated 90 billion USD by 2020, which would be an enormous increase of 12 billion USD from 2017. With more than 2.5 billion gamers worldwide from various media gaming platforms, many experts believe that the fast-growing industry could reach 300 billion USD by 2025.
Such revealing and tempting numbers have attracted numerous investors, and some of them are not even video game companies. It is not hard to sell video games when famous personalities endorse these games because they also love to play them.
Are you into the World of Warcraft? Well, you might bump into Mila Kunis or Ronda Rousey as you traverse its vast online universe. Rousey and Olivia Munn are also fans of the first-person shooter game “Call of Duty”. Comedic legend Robin Williams has named his daughter Zelda from The Legend of Zelda, which made her a spokesperson for the game.
The effects of gaming
Though gaming is booming, many in the medical industry are also citing the health risks these gamers would be facing. Though there is a sense of pleasure derived upon completing certain tasks and missions when playing video games, there are effects on their health when they do this for prolonged periods.
Video game designers use “elaborate reinforcement” and “reward schedules” that entice players into a sustained state of motivation and excitement for a long time. The tests they conducted showed that such employed methods in gaming activate parts of the brain that are particularly involved in feeling joy and pleasure, which means that the reward system is similar to the effect of addiction.
This scenario prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2018 to attribute a new term for the overindulgent behavior in the field. They referred to it as a gaming disorder. Gaming disorder is an impaired pattern of behavior that increases the gaming priority of any individual and the precedence of gaming over daily activities despite detrimental consequences.
Even so, a reasonable amount of time spent playing constructive video games may provide benefits altogether. The American Psychological Association has noted that video game play may provide learning, health, and social benefits. That is to say that the healthier avenue should be striking the balance of time spent in the digital world and the online world. Missing out on the real aspects of life in favor of video games is already a red flag.
Choose your platform
There are many games, and there are many platforms that gamers use. There are games for mobile phones, consoles, tablets, and PC. Each platform has a different system requirement, and you may need to check what works for you. If you like using a controller, maybe you could use a console like a Playstation or an Xbox.
But if you like strategy games that require a keyboard, perhaps a PC is the best for you. If you feel like putting together your own PC, then make sure to choose parts that will meet your game’s system requirements. You also need to make sure you have a hard drive back up that will save your games since many PC games require more than 60 hours to complete.
If you prefer your mobile phone, most mobile gaming apps could be bought from GooglePlay or the Apple Store, and many of them are free, with a few requiring in-game purchases. If you don’t want your children to overuse these games, you could limit their use of their phones or control what they download on their gadgets.
Gaming is a big industry, and it will only get bigger. But that only means its effect on people will be more palpable and that we need to constantly check what gaming offers humanity.
Meta title: How Gaming is Affecting Business and Health
meta desc: Gaming has come a long way since tit first began. No longer viewed as just a way to pass the time, it has now become a lucrative business.
