The other day I was a bit amazed to walk in on my 11-year-old and 8-year-old sons watching YouTube videos of people playing Fortnite and Minecraft, which are two extremely popular video games enjoyed by kids across the world. The videos consisted of people playing the games and adding their gaming strategy as voice over commentary.
My kids consumed these gaming videos, the way I consume an ESPN show breaking down my favorite team, sport or a big game.
This evolution of what kids watch is proof of the explosion of the gaming industry. It’s an industry larger than Hollywood and several professional sports leagues as well. In addition, it’s now even profitable to the players themselves, some of whom are even achieving star status.
E-sports
It’s called e-sports and it’s a multi-billion dollar industry unto itself. E-sports tournaments, where people pay an admission to watch other people play video games, are packing stadiums worldwide. Stadiums such as Los Angeles’ Staples Center, home for the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.
Not only do these frequent tournaments garner big bucks at the ticket gate, they also yield seven figure prizes as well to the expert gamers. Just last week, a teenager from Pennsylvania won $3 million at a Fortnite tournament. This kid, Kyle Giersdorf, probably played a lot of Fortnite leading up to his incredible victory, and it most certainly paid off. Perhaps when most parents bark at their kids to “turn the games off and go outside,” his parents did the opposite. Thus proving to be a financially sound move.
Perhaps a multi-million dollar prize isn’t in your kids’ future. But maybe, an e-sports scholarship is.
A scholarship for playing video games
All of my kids participate in sports, in addition I’ve coached many youth sports for many years. Such as baseball and basketball. I’ve seen parents go to great lengths and spend ten of thousands of dollars on camps and private coaches, all in the hopes that their kid gets an athletic scholarship.
However, perhaps we as parents are looking in the wrong direction. Renowned institutions like Arizona State University, North Carolina State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and several of the California State schools as well as my alma mater, the great Michigan State University, have scholarship granting e-sports programs. Just like the football, basketball and soccer programs, to name a few.
In addition, many parents, like myself dream of our kids getting to the NFL, NBA or MLB. However, if a person can make $3 million in one day playing video games, it may be time to re-calibrate those fantasies. There are players in the NFL, NBA and MLB that don’t make $3 million in an entire season. And in some cases they’re risking great bodily harm to boot. Perhaps it’s time to dream differently.
Regardless, it certainly is fascinating and a testament to the new digital age we live in. The fact that people gather around to watch other people control a joystick and that a player can actually use their gaming talents to get more out of life, is amazing.
This may also be a good excuse to convince my wife that we should invest in a bigger TV screen and a Playstation to add to our two Xboxes and Nintendo Switch. It can be framed as an “investment in our kids’ future.”
Mark Anthony Torres is a writer, futurist and seasoned global technology expert with nearly 20 years of industry experience. He's passionate about simplifying technology and making it easy to understand. To get in touch, leave a comment below; email him at bizdev@markanthonytorres.com or call him at 248.786.7070.
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