Who could have predicted in the early days of video gaming that the industry would one day take over the world? The industry is now worth more than $300 billion, which makes it more valuable than both the music and movie industries combined. That’s a staggering success story whichever way you look at it, especially considering that both movies and music are many decades ‘older’ than gaming.
But it’s also not all that surprising. The gaming world has gone to the top of the charts because it offers excitement, fun, and community, in easily accessible packages. Indeed, you can trace the recent explosion in growth in gaming’s ability to bring together, which perhaps underpins its success. So how does gaming bring people together? Let’s take a look.
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Inclusive Spaces
There are certain activities that can feel a little intimidating. You might be a football fan, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’d feel comfortable and welcome at a football game. Those cultures have long-standing traditions that aren’t instantly clear to newcomers. The chances of putting a foot wrong are high. Gaming, on the other hand, is nothing like that — it’s a deeply welcoming place that anyone can join. This is perhaps because of its relative newness. There just isn’t the same ingrained culture as there is elsewhere, and that’s to everyone’s benefit since everyone’s voice counts the same.
Streaming
It’s hard to understate just how much of an impact streaming has had on the gaming world. It essentially created the eSports industry, which is now worth more than $1 billion. But game streaming is about more than its monetary value. It helps to bring people together and creates a fun alternative to playing games directly, all the while keeping the gamer within the culture. There’s no shortage of entertaining streams available, from watching 90s musician Evil Jared go through game-related keyboard challenges to watching Drake try his hand at Fortnite, there’s something for everyone.
Fan Forums
The rise of the internet benefited all communities, but especially the gaming community, which historically did not have a meeting point. Music fans had concerts. Sports fans had stadiums. Gaming communities once had arcades, but even that was relatively minor, and in any case, largely disappeared in the 90s. Today, the gaming world has dedicated forums and digital arenas where fans can get together to discuss their favorite games, rumors, tactics, and much more, and the gaming world is all the richer for it.
Daily Challenges
The ubiquity of gaming in today’s world has meant that it has become a useful tool for friends and family to retain connections, no matter where they are. Some friends make plans to play online at specific times. Family members enjoy the easy connection facilitated by daily smartphone challenges. Even things as simple as Wordle, the smash-hit word puzzle game, can help to keep connections alive because of its sharing function, which allows players to share their results with others. It may sound like a small thing, but for many people, it’s an important part of their day, and that’s not to be overlooked.
Passionate Fans
Finally, perhaps the driving force behind the sense of community in the gaming world is that gamers are becoming just as passionate about their chosen activity as sports fans are about their chosen teams. This helps to create a vibrant community of people who get together digitally and in person not because they have to, but because they want to. With more immersive and connective gaming experiences on the way (VR, metaverse), this is a trend that we’ll likely see an increase in the coming decade, too.
