“I think a lot of the appeal that I find in games is the capacity to just get really, really into a piece of media for a period of time that’s lasts longer than, say, how long it would take me to read a book or watch a movie,” they said. Transitioning to watching rather than playing felt natural. Now that Melinh is older, time has also become a more precious resource - and they know that many good games can become a big timesink. “He’d carry me through all the levels and I was too proud to want to continue playing like that,” they said. Melinh recalls watching over their cousin’s shoulder growing up, and that cousin was apparently much better at games than they were. “I was one of those kids who got into games by going over someone else’s house and playing their on their consoles,” they said. Some people even use Twitch to fall asleep, with broadcasts acting like a modern lullabies.įor Zelda fan Melinh, watching instead of playing was how they were introduced into the hobby in the first place. Or you can cruise the web while listening to a stream in the background. You can watch games while you do a chore, like laundry. “I’d rather see someone else who’s good at the game do it.” She estimates that she watches around five hours of livestreams a day, which may sound like a notable investment, until you consider how much easier it is to fit in a livestream than actual playtime. “Watching someone play means that I don’t have to invest my own time ‘getting good’ at the game,” she said. But instead of giving up the hobby outright, Gretchen started watching high-level Counter-Strike instead. After college, she stopped having as much free time as she did growing up. “I want to always be winning, and be good at the game,” she said. Gretchen, a devout livestream viewer, says that she considers herself a competitive gamer. “Or at least, time I needed to invest on gaming,” he continued.įor others, watching video games instead of playing them is a matter of mastery. “I had money to buy games and consoles but I didn’t have time,” Joaquin told Polygon. Joaquin, a video game fan who used to play things like Counter-Strike, says that his video game habits changed dramatically once he got a job. Games are becoming work, and work takes time and energy. Games like Destiny 2 and Fallout 76 reward players for logging in daily, in addition to holding limited-time events that are only available during certain time frames. “Games as service,” the biggest trend within the space, is all about time commitment. Anecdotally, many people I know are still working their way through games from 20, like Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, because the worlds are so expansive - and continue to get bigger with each new update or DLC. Games are becoming more and more demanding with each passing year, with mainstream titles often clocking in at dozens upon dozens of hours before completion. Perhaps the most common thing people cite is a lack of time. The reasons, based on conversations I’ve had with dozens of people, vary widely. Many YouTube and Twitch viewers will go on to enjoy games on their own time, of course, but increasingly, there’s a growing section of fanatics who participate in the culture without ever picking up a controller. If you’re watching a game, it follows that you’re not actively playing something at the same time, at least not usually. Twitch, the leading live streaming service on the internet, was reportedly watched around 9 billion hours last year. In 2018, YouTube viewers watched over 50 billion hours of gaming content on the platform, with 48% of viewers reporting that they spend more time watching than they do playing. But what if both of these modes of thinking are out of touch with how the world consumes games in 2019? Recent pushes for inclusivity widen the label further to encompass anyone who plays anything, whether that’s Candy Crush or Call of Duty. Who can be considered a gamer? Depending on who you ask, it might mean enjoying a certain type of genre or owning special hardware.
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