Video game players say hobby has influenced career choices

ONE in five gamers believe their hobby has influenced their career choices.

Research among1,000 adults who regularly use video games for entertainment showed 10 per cent are already in a career related to their hobby.

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More than six in 10, or 63 per cent, also believe people who game can develop certain skills more effectively than non-gamers.

Among the key attributes nominated are rapid decision-making (58 per cent), cognitive reaction (55 per cent) and logic (48 per cent).

Meanwhile, 56 per cent believe gaming is something that helps them relax and 19 per cent like the feeling of creativity it gives them.

The findings come ahead of of the all-electric motor racing series Formula E London E-Prix this coming weekend at London ExCel.

The Nissan Feel Electric Festival is also being staged in the capital’s Covent Garden for fans of the event.

Lucian Gheorghe, UX innovation senior manager and festival spokesperson, said: “Gaming is often seen as a fun pastime, a way to kill time.

“But it can really help you develop some key skills that could even be turned into a career.

“In motorsport for example, gaming is more integral than ever before and the technology constantly evolving.

“Sports games specifically, such as motor racing and football, can offer positive opportunities to develop new skills and to get involved in a movement that’s growing exponentially.”

Nissan’s Formula E Team Sim driver Luca Ghiotto said: “I have less time to do gaming for leisure now that it is my career, but the console is where it started.

“While sim racing is a more advanced form of gaming, the fundamentals of racing on a console at home are also the same, making it widely accessible.

“More and more championships are being created, and this could potentially elevate sim racing to the level of real motorsport.

“With the Formula E final this weekend, there are plenty of reasons to get involved and inspired.

“Just like Formula E itself, there’s also the enjoyment factor – gaming is a great way to unwind, as well as to hone skills.”

The study also found the most common time to start gaming was between the ages of 10 and 15 years of age.

And on average, people who play games do so for just under five hours a week – although 12 per cent rack up more than double that.

A quarter of respondents consider themselves part of an online gaming community, in places such as Discord servers or forums.

It also emerged 58 per cent believe playing games helps with their mental health.

Researchers spoke to 1,000 UK children aged 14 to 17 who play regularly and found 52 per cent believe gaming has influenced their educational choices.

More than a fifth, 21 per cent, have picked subjects at school they felt would lead to a career in gaming.

Some 73 per cent of those questioned, via OnePoll, claimed they learned gaming skills from their parents – while 87 per cent considered it important to win at all costs when playing competitively. 

Mr Gheorghe added: “Healthy competition in sports games can be really beneficial and, from a life-lesson point of view for parents, be a really good tool with the appropriate supervision for younger users.

“It can help show the importance of being able to lose – and win – gracefully, and how to manage frustration when things don’t go your way. These are all valuable life skills that you can take into any career.

“Of course this is easier said than done when you’re pipped to the post at the last second in a racing game, costing you the championship – but it’s important to try.”

DJ and producer Eats Everything last week shared his latest ‘brake-beat’ track – made from the sounds of electric motorsport.

The track, titled ‘Feeel’, uses sounds from a top team’s garage, from the pitlane, audio from team radio and a Nissan Gen 3 Formula E race car. 

Jaguar driver Mitch Evans last month described Formula E as the hardest motor championship in the world, more difficult even that Formula One.

Meanwhile, a separate poll suggested more than 3million pensioners play video games such as Fortnite every day.

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