Video Game Industry Opportunity for Generational Social Change

hello everyone

i’m christopher mikey bernal or chaser0

i’m the league of legends rift

and i’m here to change your perspective

on how gaming influences

youth and popular culture and how you

can be a part of it

super quick introduction to myself i

completed my undergraduate studies here

at uc merced

securing my bachelor’s in management

business economics and minoring in rn

public health

which all contributed to my outlook on

how important youth sports are

for children i started cu sports as one

of the most

important public health programs that

not only keeps

keeps kids active and focused but also

provides a sense of community

and mentorship which is invaluable i

decided to dive deeper into this and my

love for sports by pursuing

a master’s in sport management at the

university of san francisco

and while i gained a deep knowledge into

the inner working

of what makes a organization running

grow it was the

impact gaming and esports were having at

the moment that caught my eye the most

mainly due to the massive networks that

were being developed and the shift that

was happening right before our eyes

as our youth continues to lean more

towards modern

digital competitive gaming or or

viewership than from traditional sports

now back at uc merced and gaming more

than ever trying to understand the space

at a deeper level as a phd student

in the innovative management of complex

systems program

while this is digital talk i will start

by asking everyone to raise your hand

if you know anyone who loves playing

video games or spends the majority of

the time gaming in any way

if you don’t have your hand up yet i

want you to think about your own

children

or your friend’s children or even

yourselves or your brothers and sisters

and how much gaming is interesting into

our lives

i’m sure we were in a room most people

who would have would raise their hand

and come

to realize that you are not an outlier

the number of global gamers expected to

surpass 3 billion by 2023

and most parents educators and even

coaches struggle

with understanding the relationships our

society and youth

have with the gaming industry as a whole

to ensure

we are on the same page for the

remainder of this talk i will showcase

the main drivers of gaming culture

and how they overlap into behaviors

i will highlight sections of this

graphic none of which are

actual game developers development of

leagues digital competition at the

highest level draws iso top

talent which is comparable to the early

stages of nba

nfl and even mlb

gaming organizations like 100 thieves

base clan

tsm and mo and many more are all

creating

full rosters of teams for different

gaming titles

with loyal fan bases that look up to the

players traditional teams

and organizations like the warriors and

the bay area are deeply invested and

interested in how game entertainment

is being innovative and engaging

audiences globally from a primarily

digital position

like any other business securing capital

is essential

and gaming organizations reinvest that

capital into the top

talent and leaders in each game the

power streamers

are undervalued from people who are

involved in the gaming industry

we can compare loyalty and relationship

between lebron james

who has been recently asked to promote

the kobe vaccine by medical

professionals

because they know the power his word has

within his

fans and cristiano ronaldo just hit 250

million followers on instagram

the first human to hit that milestone

and these are just examples of

traditional sports stars

when you look at top streamers on

platforms like twitch

and youtube gaming we can see that

valkyrie disrespect pokeman

xqc ninja and even tsm who has not even

been

who has not even streamed in over a year

still has

myself and his community hoping that

once his personal situation are resolved

that he’ll be ready to get back into the

game we can see similar levels of

loyalty

and at times even deeper since you

actually get to know the streamers

as a person when they are on camera for

three four five hours straight

people don’t really know lebron or

crescendo but they definitely know their

favorite streamers and youtubers

in terms of how they treat their

families what they care about

how they react to the situation and

truly listen to what they have to say

when we look at players and gamers now

they have options around the clock to

either play with their friends

build skills or to watch the top talent

competing

in leagues or be purely entertained by

someone they love to watch

on streaming platforms opportunities to

consume content from

people you feel connected to truly never

ends

but now that we’re on the same page

about how we are visualizing the gaming

industry

i can dive a little deeper into the

massive misunderstandings of the power

that being a voice in these environments

can have to drive

change and perspective especially at the

youth level

the conversation around youth being

disengaged while

at school is consistent but it’s not due

to laziness

it’s more lack of motivation and this

connection

to the people who are in place to guide

their learning

the research on the science of learning

and development highlights that students

have developmental needs for supportive

relationships

in the classroom and require challenging

tasks

that draw on their individual

experiences and understandings

gaming environments achieve many of

those gaps that schools are not

do not provide right for parents and

educators to build more supportive

relationships an increasingly important

component is taking the time

to become more culturally competent by

understanding

the space in which youth actually want

to be in

examples of what you can do to be

involved are

playing with them and becoming part of

their space at first you want to

enjoy the game nobody enjoys anything

they aren’t good at

but once you make enough effort and

become competent your child will notice

that

you can also take a few minutes a day or

a week to watch some of the

streamers and youtubers they like to

watch to learn about the language and

little bits of the culture you can also

ask questions

to understand what they’re doing but

keep in mind how you are asking

they will sense authenticity or lack

thereof

lastly showing respect for their passion

or hobby is crucial

you will not want to work with someone

or spend time with someone

who did not respect the things you are

passionate about neither do

neither does any child or team lastly

showing respect for their passion and

hobby is crucial you would not want to

work with or spend time with

someone who did not respect the things

you are passionate about

neither does any child or team the

gaming community is diverse

with endless variations and backgrounds

and offering motivations for gaming

but what is mostly true is that gamers

don’t play

games because they’re easy or because

they like to be alone in the room

they are completing difficult tasks that

build on their knowledge and skills

that have been developed with the people

that understand their goals

and want to achieve them together

this can be friends from school or

friends of men online

in the space they are comfortable in

parents and educators can become a part

of the space

and indirectly alter their children’s

behavior by becoming the people

our youth want to spend their time with

a lot of you watching are likely

thinking

will it take time to accomplish this yes

100

but you will have much more bargaining

power in the relationship from a

standpoint of partnership and friendship

rather than from imposing your

parenthood and authoritarian leadership

on the household

i’m not saying everybody does but

imagine a world

where our educators coaches and parents

actually understand what is going on and

we’re a part of it

it’s time to become a part of the gaming

environment and that will provide you

the ear to more effectively share new

opportunities

change your perspective on how to treat

people how to develop

healthier eating habits or even learn

about climate change and how to do their

part

chain behavior at the youth level will

provide much longer lasting impacts on

our society

and earth our youth need to know that

the adults guiding them actually care

about the things

they are passionate about