The Cultural Impact of Gaming

Gaming has become one of the most popular activities in the world, with millions of people sitting down each day to play some of their favourite games for hours on end. For years gaming has been a massive part of people's lives, however when the internet really took off and exploded onto the scene, online gaming was born and created a whole new range of possibilities for players.

Whether it was online first person shooters or playing a game of pokies online with your friends, you could all of a sudden play the same game as someone thousands of miles away which previously wouldn’t have even been a thought. 

Whilst gaming is now just a part of our everyday lives, in the past few years it has had a real impact on people and their cultures, showing just how important gaming can be to people. In this article we’ll be taking a look at the cultural impact of gaming and how the two link.

Community

Online gaming has opened up a whole new platform for people to both express themselves and make friends, whilst being in a safe space with like minded people. With most games these days comes a large following of fans and players that enjoy the game. Because of this, there are numerous fan pages and chat’s available for fans to discuss and bond over. 

This can be in the form of either forums, group chats or even fan pages, meaning there’s virtually an unlimited amount of content available for players to tap into. This is also how a lot of gamers meet long term friends and build connections for years when otherwise they may never have met those people through real life, showing that just because it’s over a game, it can still help you find people like you.

Socialisation

Similar to the above point, sometimes you’ve known someone for years in person, but for one reason or another, they have to move away, whether it’s via work or personal reasons, this means you’ll no longer see them.

However with online gaming, you’re able to still connect with those people online, keeping that relationship going despite the sudden distance between you. Whether someone is down the road or halfway across the world, online gaming allows you to keep friendships firing as it’s become so easy to play with people online.

User generated content

In previous years, game developers would release a game, and for any further updates you’d have to rely on them bringing out new content. However in recent times this has completely changed, with developers now giving players the tools to make their own contributions and bring their own work to life has given some games a new lease of life. 

It mainly started with Halo 3 and Gary’s mod, with these two really being the start of players being able to bring their own spark to the game and show off what they can do. In recent years this has only grown, with Fortnite releasing the creator function, giving players complete full access to be able to create their own game modes, maps and levels. 

What this means is essentially players no longer have to rely on the developers to bring out new content, as there are thousands of fan made games available to play which offers virtually endless new content for other players to enjoy, with some content really feeling like whole new games entirely.

Niche gaming genres bringing people together

Before forum and chat sites were available, smaller indie game developers didn’t stand a chance against the big companies at getting their games out there in the world as they simply didn’t have the power or resources to promote it. 

However that has since changed, and there’s a huge following for smaller indie games that allows both smaller and newer gaming developers to have the chance to create some truly incredible games, knowing they’re easily able to get the word of mouth out there and for people to play their game. 

With how gaming has developed in recent years, the dynamic of the culture in gaming has certainly shifted, but for most, it’s shifted for the better of the players.