Unlocking the Potential of Esports & Gaming: The Truths Parents Need to Know
Have you ever wondered why people find it so exciting watching others play games?
Maybe you’ve heard of the multi-million dollar tournaments and the crowds they draw? Perhaps you’ve heard your child screaming their head off at the computer with their online friends, or they’ve told you they need expensive gaming gear? Or maybe you’re just baffled by the fact people can play video games competitively and want to learn more.
If so, I hope you’ll find this series a useful resource as I shed light on the big questions, and offer a holistic view on how anyone can quickly understand the good, the bad, and everything in between. There are plenty of benefits of the gaming and esports industries, but the right information is seriously lacking.
It’s scary how many parents have come to me with concerns for their children.
Is my child addicted? What can I do about it? Are there career opportunities for them in esports? Should I let them meet people online? Is she good enough to become a pro? How do I balance game time with schoolwork? And many, many more (very valid) worries.
This is particularly relevant to me now as a new(ish) father, and the funny thing is: I’ve been that child too. No doubt my parents were also scared when they couldn’t drag me away from the PC when I started playing games competitively 17 years ago.
Fortunately, I quickly realised I wasn’t good enough to earn a living from playing. Instead, I immersed myself in the business side of the industry, volunteered a lot, and somehow landed a job at Razer in 2011 where I went on to become the head of esports and build my own successful marketing agency.
I still believe that’s a viable and achievable path for young people today who find themselves immersed in esports or gaming (and we’ll come to that in later posts).
But it’s important to let you know there’s a darker side to esports and gaming too.
The World Health Organization now acknowledges Gaming Disorder in its 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases:
A pattern of gaming behavior (“digital-gaming” or “video-gaming”) characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.
An estimated 2–3% of gamers worldwide suffer from Gaming Disorder, according to research, with estimates of a prevalence of up to 5% in Asia Pacific. It is however worth mentioning that research is still ongoing, and the symptoms, reasons, and treatments for Gaming Disorder are all but clear.
As someone who previously fell into this definition, I felt it was important to raise awareness about some of the negative effects gaming could have on us as human beings, especially when the pandemic threatened to compound these very serious concerns for mental health.
On this topic, it’s important to understand that games are designed to be addictive by the people who make them. That’s how capitalism works. And they’re incredibly good at doing this by now.
Games can also serve as incredibly good tools for us to escape our real world problems (just as smartphones and social media can), but in doing so we risk impeding social development, family bonds, physical exercise, schoolwork, and ultimately a happy and successful future.
I felt so strongly about this that in March 2021 I completed my Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Psychology with the intention of supporting those struggling with these concerns, whether it be parents or their children.
The experience has transformed my perspective on esports and gaming as a whole, but it most importantly made me realise the growing need for easy-to-understand material and resources for parents of the gigantic number of young people playing games around the world.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though!
As esports grows, so do the opportunities to work in the ecosystem — especially for those with an entrepreneurial mindset in a rapidly evolving, multi-faceted industry. There are literally thousands of jobs out there. The gaming industry is now bigger than the film and music industries combined.
A lot more infrastructure is being built around the world too — not least, here in Singapore, with the Singapore Esports Association (SGEA), responsible for cultivating local esports athletes and sending them abroad to major sporting competitions such as the ASEAN and SEA Games where they’ve even won medals.
If you’d like to learn more…
I’m hoping to join you on your journey and support as best I can by demystifying the esports ecosystem in future posts, touching on a topics like:
- What does esports even mean?!
- Can esports be a viable career path?
- What are the mental health concerns with playing too much?
- What are some industry misconceptions?
- How did esports originate, and why is it so popular?
- Is esports a sport? Will it appear at the Olympics?
- Am I a bad parent for restricting my child’s gaming time?
- Are there ways in which gaming can nourish my child? What are the upsides?
- And much more…
So, to summarise, gaming is growing rapidly, and competitive gaming alongside it. But as it becomes more complex, outsiders are becoming alienated, and this is bad news for future generations and how easy they’re able to seize opportunities.
This series is a conscious attempt by someone who knows the space intimately to create useful, accurate resources specifically designed for parents and caregivers, making it simple and easy to digest, so they can get all the support they need.
Thanks for reading!
👋P.S. — If you’d like to ask questions about the esports ecosystem or share some concerns you’ve had, please feel free to reach out by visiting my website where you can schedule a totally free call (no strings attached!).
I also have some (free) narrated resources available for mindfulness, which you can find over on InsightTimer.
