The Science Behind Gaming

For decades, gaming environments have provided social networks for millions of players around the world. Whether playing with friends in a cooperative puzzle game, running rampant with teammates in a first-person shooter, or coordinating gigantic raids in an MMORPG, gaming has revolved around player-to-player interaction since its inception. With numerous studies resulting in both positive and negative outcomes of social gaming and gaming in general, this article aims to separate the wheat from the chaff and derive a meaningful and scientifically proven conclusion on the topic.

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But first we must add context about recent events which have greatly influenced socialising in general, the dreaded COVID-19. A nagging concern which nations are still suffering from, COVID-19 put the entire world on hold. Governments enforced lockdowns, businesses shutdown, billions were stuck inside their homes and what did people do to stay sane? Arts and crafts, cooking, working out maybe, but most importantly people turned to their digital home entertainment. More specifically, the gaming industry proved to be a unique sector which continued to grow despite the pandemic and a global economic freeze. Since this global crisis, gaming has grown ever larger and as the total player base eclipses 3.2 billion people, the impacts of socialising in an online gaming environment must be put in perspective.

The Benefits

Gaming has proved to be the latest generation’s way of socialising. To this day many parents see their children sitting alone in front of a TV screen and beg them to go outside and interact with society. In stark contrast to this belief, a research paper published in 2016 discovered that young children (aged 6 to 11) who spend time gaming are more likely to have better intellectual and social skills than their non-gaming peers. The same study continues to elaborate that high video game usage resulted in a 175% increase in developing high intellectual functioning, as well as being 1.88 times more likely to have “high overall school competence”. Another study from 2015 further proves the importance of socialising through gaming. It is reported that 77% of boys play online video games with friends at least once a month. Upon further analysis, 91% of video-gaming boys play with friends online, and just over half (52%) of gaming girls do the same.

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Video games aren’t only key to socialising in the modern era, they have also been demonstrated to increase intelligence. When comparing children’s screen habits (TV, Gaming, Social Media, etc), researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet noticed that children who spent more time gaming had a higher IQ score than average. After following up 2 years later and running the tests again it was identified that children who played games increased their intelligence by 2.5 IQ points more than the children who did not. Gaming has also resulted in an increase in visual memory capacity and enhanced attention. This study by McDermott et al.  gave action gamers and non-gamers a series of memory related tasks. They found that action video game players excelled above the control group in retaining a large number of short-term memories. 

Furthermore, there has been research which has indicated that gaming can increase older adults’ brain functions, and strategy games can perhaps offer a defence against dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Using this study in 2017, researchers identified that real-time strategy games and strategy board games both contributed to an increase in executive brain functions like working memory, global cognition and inhibitory abilities. Additionally, another study from Behavioural Brain Research revealed that 3D games like Super Mario assisted older adults in improving their recognition memory and cognition. It has also been stated that gaming interventions might be beneficial for those that are homebound as it allows them to experience new environments.

The Negatives

Lets start with addiction. Videos games utilise the human reward system by triggering positive experiences through the completion of in game tasks. As a reward, a player might level up, receive in-game loot, be able to progress to the next stage or simply feel the satisfaction of getting better. This reward cycle has been known to cause addiction in some gamers, with prevalence rates of problematic gaming ranging from as low as 1.7% to over 10%. Some effects of gaming addiction include isolation, self-neglect, carpal tunnel syndrome and fatigue which can lead into developing a sleeping disorder.

Gaming also has a complicated relationship with mental health. Although certain studies have suggested that there is a link between moderate video game usage and a positive effect on mental health, there is also a wealth of research which argues otherwise. This paper published in 2021, believes that certain types of people who play games for different reasons (i.e., to escape, to achieve, and recreationally) are more vulnerable to developing negative mental health outcomes. For example, it was established that recreational players suffered the least negative psychosocial outcomes, however both “achievers” and “escapers” have an increased risk of social withdraw and the later being more likely to develop depression/anxiety symptoms and self-destructive/identity problems.

Other Findings

There’s been an age-old debate raging since gaming’s inception and that is whether violent video games cause aggression in adolescents. This particular topic was excluded from ‘the negatives’ section as recent research from Molecular Psychiatry states that no effects were observed when comparing regular gamers to violent gamers, alongside a control of non-gamers. Previously, studies have focused on short-term behaviour after playing a violent video game which resulted in some additional thoughts around aggression. However, that specific research often asked questions within minutes of the video game experience and presented it as a sound case. This latest study in 2021 was the largest of its type, not just focussing on short-term but also long-term thoughts and behaviours, with a follow up test 2 months later. This analysis of various timeframes convinced the researchers to conclude that violent video games do not cause aggression.

Another area to consider is what type of person plays video games? Traditionally, the belief was held that kids and certain technology driven adults pursued gaming as a hobby, or in other words the “hardcore gamers”. However, this has become an image of the past. Looking specifically at Australia, the average player is 35 years old. And in the USA its not that different with an average age of 33. Looking at another assumption about gamers, its commonly believed that male players dominate the hobby. This couldn’t be further from the truth, in Australia males make up 53% of the gaming player base, meanwhile 46% of the market are female players with the remaining 1% being categorised as non-binary. Another important question to ask is why players game? The top 3 reasons why Australians play games include: “Having Fun”, “Keeping the Mind Active” and to “Relax/De-stress”. Coming in at 4th and 5th saw gamers playing to “Relieve Boredom/Pass Time” and to “Be Challenged”.

Taking a step back and observing the market as a whole, its important to understand how people game. Since mobile technologies have become more efficient and offer a reliable platform for a wide variety of games, an industry-shaping mobile gaming surge has taken place in the gaming sector. In 2022 alone mobile gaming makes up an astounding 53% of global gaming revenue which equates to an eyewatering $103.5 billion. This can be attributed to mobile gaming being cheaper than console or PC gaming and numerous regions around the world developing better mobile internet infrastructure.

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Wrapping It Up

Gaming won’t be disappearing anytime soon, and as made evident by the increasing total revenue and global player base year in year out, gaming will be around for the foreseeable future. Upon examination of various studies which point out increased socialisation skills and intelligence scores, as well as a variety of brain activity benefits, while being met with some resistance in mental health and addiction its safe to say gaming in moderation is good for you. With moderation being the key term here. Whether exploring a single player adventure game or partying it up in an online environment, gaming provides an outlet for many with the main objective to “Have Fun”.

If you’d like to continue learning about the global gaming ecosystem or more specifically Australia’s gaming landscape look no further. SPACEJUMP is your place for all information on gaming and esports.