What Do Video Games & The Future Of Entertainment Have In Common: Community
Our desire as human beings to be part of a community and a healthy one at that with the exchange of dialogue and ideas is deeply rooted in…
Our desire as human beings to be part of a community and a healthy one at that with the exchange of dialogue and ideas is deeply rooted in our history. Throw in entertainment and interaction in that mix and we have something that ancient humans have done for aeons i.e. connect on the premise of entertainment and build communities.
Think the Romans and the coliseum, same thing. Think horse racing, a similar thing. And now, you would argue it’s sports. But what kind of sport? Is the general idea of sport changing and evolving?
Right from the dawn of mankind, making fires and gathering together to sing, dance and interact with each other is something we do and have done as human beings for centuries. It’s just that now our bonfires are on our smart TV, phone and laptop screens and our social gathering is online.
Now, I’m an avid football fan(soccer for the people reading this in the US) and the sense of belonging, the excitement and the rush I get from watching my favourite team Chelsea FC, London, play week in and week out is unparalleled. Add to that the sense of camaraderie and community I get from being a die-hard Chelsea fan keeps me upbeat and excited for every next game.
However, that’s my generation. What about this one? The generation who grew up with all kinds of technology available at the drop of a hat, in the palms of their hands. Our sport is played on the field, in stadiums, where the air is thick and humid because of the vociferous supporters, packing it up to full capacity, chanting their team and players on. That’s my generation. Nowadays, arenas are different.
When I grew up, the time I spent was a mix of outdoor and indoor activities, but I mostly spent my time outdoors playing football, cricket, running etc. with a lesser amount of time on my PC playing games.
The tilt towards the latter is now confirmed, except, not only on PCs but gaming consoles like the Playstation and Xbox with HD graphics that are vivid, expansive, enthralling and lifelike. Whilst it was balanced in terms of outdoor activity and gaming for us, this new generation spends more time on online multiplayer gaming than any generation that has ever existed. They’re called ‘e-sports’ and they’re making waves.
To give you a clue of just how big gaming is, here are some numbers that reflect how popular these e-sports are. There are over 2 billion video gamers on earth today. In 2017, the League of Legends (LoL) World Championship had 106.2 million viewers whilst the 2017 MLB Baseball World Series had only 15.4 million viewers. In 2018 The League of Legends World Championship final tournament had 99.6 million viewers while the 2018 Wimbledon final had only 10 million.
The UEFA Champions League, on the other hand, is a behemoth churning out 112–200 million viewers worldwide, every season. The UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool in 2018 drew an audience of 480 million worldwide, but football(soccer) is the world’s most played and watched sport globally, so it’s understandable.
However, the NFL Superbowl in 2018 had 103.4 million viewers and LoL(League of Legends) in 2018 wasn’t far behind with 99.6 million viewers. The shift is apparent and increasing by the year and there is clearly something going on here. This infographic and this article tell you exactly that.
What this means is that the next generation will have adults who have played video games for more than a decade, so expect the popularity and growth of e-sports to skyrocket. Also, think of a future where families gather around for gaming championship finals. That’s where we’re headed.
Why is it so popular? Well, it’s an intrinsic human characteristic, i.e to build communities. In his TED talk, Emmet Shear, the co-founder of Twitch, the world’s leading streaming platform for gamers, argues that the popularity of e-sports lies in something much more intrinsic and primal, our need to be entertained, connect, interact and build communities.
Gaming as entertainment is here, and here to stay.
This article was originally published on: https://wordsforeveries.wordpress.com/2019/11/09/what-do-video-games-the-future-of-entertainment-have-in-common-community/