Do video games add or relieve stress?

Playing video games is one of the most common past times these days. Besides social media, video games are an important part of people’s daily activities. There has been a substantial increase in the popularity of gaming in recent years. With the increase in the popularity of streaming platforms, most gamers choose to stream gameplay to earn money and build a fan base while gaming for fun. Surprisingly, a wide variety of players across gender and generations indulge in gaming.

Millennials tend to be more interested in playing video games in comparison to younger generations. It can be said that more financially stable generations find it easier to make time for playing video games. Additionally, there is a huge percentage of male players in the gaming industry. Even though there are female players, most of them prefer to explore a completely different genre of video games in comparison to male players.

Gaming Popularity

The quality of the gaming experience has drastically improved over the years. Triple A games aim to immerse the user into expertly created storylines – it’s no wonder that popularity has increased over the years. Graphics have naturally improved alongside the technology, but it’s elsewhere where you will marvel at the overall progress. The writing, art direction, design, voice acting – the list goes on. Interestingly, mobile gaming, which lacks some of the above traits, has increased in popularity to the point where it was recognized as the most popular form of gaming, according to a survey conducted by ExpressVPN.

Why do players get emotionally attached to games

Nowadays, video games are structured in a way that they follow a specific storyline. The characters are conceptualized to create an impact with their backstories and the trouble they faced before reaching a specific skill level. This creates a sense of familiarity for users as they feel emotionally tethered to the characters within the games. Users also find themselves fascinated by the backstories of specific characters if they are very similar to their own stories. This creates a sense of relatability among players with specific characters and they get emotionally attached to a character.

This connection with their characters also builds a sense of intensity among players and they tend to get heavily involved in the game. Usually, players tend to go for games that have more relatable characters for them. It can be said that games are designed in such a way that they can lure in people easily with the help of their character and story design. Additionally, there have been games that are visually pleasing or have amazing music scores that make them exceptionally popular among video gamers.

It can be said that the overall creation of a video game revolves around the idea of luring in players so that they can get more and more popular. With advancements in technology, the quality of video games has been improving substantially; this gives an edge to the newer video games as they have a better gaming experience for users. Additionally, the invention of VR and AR technology has completely changed the video gaming experience for users. Now users can enjoy video gaming as a 3D experience, which will essentially increase the popularity of video games.

How playing games affect the day-to-day experience for gamers

It is given that the more people feel attached to video games, the more they will feel distanced from the real world. Video gaming is quite addicting, and it can create a sense of dependency for people who play video games regularly. Players usually find it hard to interact with people outside of their video games because they are not comfortable interacting with people in such settings. On the contrary, gamers are usually quite capable of holding conversations while indulging in video games with fellow gamers. This can be because gamers have a specific lingo that they prefer to use while gaming, and it is not very well-known to people who do not play games frequently. Even newer gamers are not well-versed in such language.

Video games allow users to escape from real-world issues and simply indulge themselves in an exciting storyline. That is why people who are frequent gamers find it hard to function normally outside of video games. Based on specific statistics, millennials are more prone to getting addicted to gaming as they spend the most time playing games. Based on a survey, people above the age of 40 tend to spend more than 24 hours on gaming in a week. While Gen Z barely spends 4-5 hours a week playing video games. This stark difference can also be due to the investment required to play video games.

Gamers tend to ignore their day-to-day responsibilities if they get to the game all day. There have been instances where gamers have confessed that they feel irritated and sad if they are unable to play their favorite games for a specific reason. Video games create a safety blanket for gamers, where they can do whatever they want without interacting with real people. This creates a sense of freedom and comfort within gamers and they tend to seek that escape more and more. However, this addiction to indulging in another world leads to various issues like the inability to focus on other responsibilities and performing daily tasks on time.

Conclusion

Video gaming is undeniably a fun activity, but it is equally time-consuming. Millennials and boomers find it easier to spend their time gaming with their friends in comparison to younger generations. Additionally, gamers also tend to play games every day for a specific period to function normally. The inability to indulge in gaming usually results in gamers getting frustrated or irritated.

It can be said that gaming is essentially very addicting and can make a huge impact on people’s lifestyles. Most gamers get emotionally attached to their video games and find it hard to separate themselves from the games they play regularly. It is suggested that players should try to break their gaming pattern to some extent so that they are not heavily dependent on playing video games.