Parents and guardians, hear me! You play an essential role in developing and guiding our youth/young adults of this generation and the generations to come. I know this is not rocket science or new information, but I wanted to be as blatant as possible with my intentions for the next five minutes of your time. You are the gateway to understanding; you are the gateway of opportunity; you are the gateway of impact in our current times.
So why am I harping on your influence? I am harping on your influence because you can empower our youth to thrive in the current infrastructure of our current world, or you can kill their dreams all in one swoop. Our ever-changing world’s current state has evolved quickly in recent years – faster than ever before. You could be left behind if you don’t know about Web3, NFT’s, Crypto, Blockchain, E-Sports, Video, and Mobile Game Development.
For the sake of this conversation, I am going to focus on Video Games. An industry that I hold near and dear to my heart. This industry is composed of creators, innovators, and developers, some of whom I call my closest friends. Let me start by giving you some data. Video games are a billion-dollar business and have been for many years. In 2020, the worldwide PC gaming market revenue was estimated at almost 37 billion U.S. dollars, while the mobile gaming market generated an estimated income of over 77 billion U.S. dollars.
Parents, this is money that most of us know from the consumer side. Raise your hand if you have spent money playing games yourself, or maybe you purchased a console for a special someone in your life on a particular day. I’m guilty, and I know thousands of others are guilty too. So how do we get on the other side of the coin? We start breaking down the negative stigma within this industry bit by bit.
As they trevail through primary school, many youths and young adults get asked, what do you want to be when you grow up? Some say, A Doctor, Lawyer, An Engineer, or Teacher? But why don’t we hear Technical Artist, Producer, Game Designer, or Technical Program Manager? We don’t hear about these careers because our parents didn’t hear about these careers. We are all subject to the communities that connect us and the information we also share within our communities. We need more parents open to their children pursuing careers in the Gaming Industry. Gone are the days when we as marginalized communities were just consumers of products. We are now the developers, owners, and creators of these products.
Now, how did this industry blow up? We have buying power; we consume these products and enjoy building community with these products. Although we have the buying power, why does it feel like we are last to the party to play? I believe because of fear. Our parents, guardians, and mentors are risk-averse, but for a good reason. What parent have you EVER met that wants their child to fail? None. One of the reasons why there are so many millionaires in silicon valley is because when the start-up boom happened, many people of privilege were able to take a RISK and join an Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Slack, or Coinbase.
When growing up, my parents never steered me towards video gaming because they didn’t see a solid future for me, and they didn’t want me to take the risk. Instead, I was encouraged to pursue law, medicine, or education. We have to change the narrative. Let’s empower our communities to be consumers of this market and be developers, designers, streamers, creators, and leaders in this industry. Finally, then we can influence and impact the future of video gaming from the inside out.
