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What do you get when you combine an inner child, a love for video games, and a consumer culture? A career. 

Goodbye to the times where parents told children to stop playing games and hello to a society where a hobby can be turned into a profitable career. 

According to Techcrunch, gaming has blossomed into one of the world’s most lucrative entertainment industries since its mainstream inception in the 1950s as a scientific phenomenon at a science fair. In recent years, the smartphone technology boom has revolutionised the industry and opened doors to a young gamers generation. 

In 1973 the first example of players playing on different screens arrived with Empire – a competitive turn-based game developed for up to eight players for the PLATO network system. PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Training) was one of the first standardised computer-based teaching systems, initially developed by the University of Illinois, which was later taken over by Control Data. As indicated on reports from the PLATO system, users invested approximately 300,000 hours playing Empire between 1978 and 1985. 

Although access to PLATO was restricted to major organisations like universities and Atari, who could afford the computers and networks needed to join the network, PLATO represents one of the first steps on the technical path to the internet and online multiplayer gaming.  

According to an article published on Ciscopress, the real revolution in gaming came when multiplayer gaming opened up on LAN networks and later on the internet. Multiplayer gameplay took the gaming world to a new level when it allowed fans to participate and connect with various machines, which enhanced gaming’s social aspect. This crucial move set the way for the large-scale immersive games currently embraced by mainstream gamers.

Since they exploded into the mainstream in the 1980s, video games have come a long way, but some impressive advancements in their engineering have made the future of gaming much brighter.

An article published on Entrepreneur categorises professional gaming into two sectors, namely Esports and video game streaming. Esports are often organised in the form of multiplayer video game tournaments, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Like “real sports,” watching professional players tear into each other can be as gratifying as any traditional sport when you are familiar with the gameplay.

The second sector streaming is a form of online broadcasting on specialist channels where individuals play games and entertain their viewers. The audience can get swept up with the streamer’s style of gameplay or witty humour. Streaming has become a full-time career for many, with some of them earning a healthy six-figure monthly salary merely by entertaining their fans daily. These streamers are sponsored by brands to publicise and endorse their products on their respective channels.

An increasing favourite is Apex Legends. In the world of EA, Apex Legends is a free-to-play royal battle game where up to 20 three-person squads land on an island and search for weapons and supplies before trying to defeat all other fighting players. The island’s available play area shrinks over time, forcing players to move toward one another or to find themselves outside the play area, which can be fatal. The last team alive wins the round.

Richard Dettmar, a North-West University alumnus, was, according to the 2019 South African Discord Community, ranked 8th in Apex Legends in South Africa. When asked what he enjoyed about the game, he said, “When Apex was released, I thought I would give it a go. What I enjoyed about the game was that it focussed on teamwork, which at that time, not a lot of online multiplayer games did.” 

He added that the competitiveness of the game made it even more fun. “If you die and your squad is eliminated, you are done.” Richard says that as you rank up through the game, the more complex and strategic your gameplay has to be. “You have to predict what is going to happen and how you can adapt to the current situation. You have to assess the gameplay and determine whether to play aggressive, defensive, when to third party (when you attack two other teams who are in combat) or when to retreat.” 

He says when playing in a team, you have to assess the synergy of the characters. Each character has a different ability, which can contribute to the team. “I used to play with Pathfinder before the game was ‘updated.’ This robot character could shoot ziplines and grapple long distances, which contributed to the overall mobility of the team in a tough situation,” Richard said. 

When asked if he would consider becoming a streamer, he said, “Of course! The only problem is that there is not a South African server.” He explains that South African Apex players have to play on Europe or Asian servers, which causes a delay in gameplay reactions. “I cannot be a streamer unless there is a South African server. This will give us an equal playing field,” he says.

In an article published on Medical News Today, medical professionals address the controversy regarding the effects of video games on the brain. In a recent study, scientists have found that playing video games affects not only how the brain functions but also its composition.

The findings indicated that video game players display changes in different kinds of attention, including prolonged attention and selective attention. Also, the brain regions responsible for attention are more efficient in gamers and require less activation to remain focussed than non-gamers. The evidence also indicates that playing video games increases the sections of the brain responsible for visual-spatial (the ability to distinguish visual and spatial interactions between objects). Therefore long-time gamers displayed an enlarged right hippocampus. 

In correlation with the findings presented on Medical News Today, an article published on the American Psychological Association indicates that playing video games may boost a child’s learning, health, social and problem-solving skills. In reality, video gameplay can enhance a variety of cognitive abilities such as spatial navigation, logic, memory, and perception. This is particularly true for sometimes more-aggressive shooter video games.

Not only can video games be a lucrative career choice, but in return, it enhances the brain’s performance—what a time to be alive!