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