Video games remain a taboo subject in many workplaces. Managers often dismiss them as a frivolous activity that reflects poorly on discipline and productivity. There’s a lingering perception that time spent gaming is time wasted and a sign of disengagement from the world.
This view is increasingly at odds with the research. Studies suggest that gaming can build cognitive, social, and emotional skills that are highly relevant to organizational success, at least as positive a signal of potential as participating in sports, volunteering, cooking, and other hobbies. In fact, the skills developed through gaming are becoming more critical as organizations face complex, fast-paced environments. It’s time to challenge outdated assumptions, recognize the value gaming can bring to the workplace, and do something about it.
A Place for the Gamers
Here, it makes sense to refer to “gamers” as a very broad category, because gaming in various forms has been shown to have benefits, though they may vary in form from game to game. For example, board games encourage social interaction and engage the intellect. They also promote a balance between competition (i.e., to win the game) and cooperation (i.e., to follow and negotiate the rules) — not unlike sports, and very much like the business organization.
Tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), like Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), encourage social interaction, creativity, teamwork, empathy, and other capabilities that are beneficial for the workforce of the future and its leaders. In fact, we have evidence that the stereotypes and assumptions about these gamers as socially awkward and anxious introverts are simply untrue. It’s actually quite the opposite. In a study following 25 adults playing D&D regularly over the course of a year, researchers observed a decrease in the players’ general anxiety, stress, and depression over time. They also showed corresponding increases in self-esteem and self-efficacy. Furthermore, a larger-scale comparison of 801 individuals showed that on average, the 399 D&D players exhibited higher extraversion, openness to experience, and emotional stability than the 402 non-players.
TTRPGs are collaborative in nature and thus avoid potential cultural problems that may arise from an overreliance on sports metaphors for organizations. Such an overreliance can create too much emphasis on rivalry in business environments, to the neglect of such important elements as building community, collaboration, and co-creation. Following a TTRPG metaphor might instead prompt employees to see the organization as a league of heroic adventurers, leveraging their complementary capabilities to do epic deeds across the realm.
And despite all of the negative press that video games have received over the years, a review of recent research on a range of video games suggests that they can build cognitive skills (e.g., quicker reaction times and processing speeds, improved memory, etc.), as well as contribute to stress management (e.g., reducing stress, boosting resilience, etc.).
Normalizing Gaming
I am not the first to write a defense of gamers. Ten years ago, in a discussion of players in massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs; e.g., World of Warcraft and Minecraft), Michael Shrage, then a visiting fellow at MIT, pointed out how such games promote cognitive and social skills, as well as adaptability and self-discipline. Shrage noted the irrational stigma that was typically associated with gaming and called on managers to move past their ignorance, set aside their elitist ways, and embrace the gamer.
Ten years since that call, how much progress have we seen on this front? When I conducted an informal search for guidance on constructing resumes and acing interviews, I was hard-pressed to find advice to explicitly mention gaming experience and gaming-related skills, outside advice for job-seekers specifically in the gaming industry. (Noting “hobbies” in general is as close as most advice-givers seem to want to get to the topic.)
This is arguably indicative of how hiring managers continue to view gaming as more of a “habit” and less of an activity with potential work-related benefits. So as long as this perception persists among hiring managers and senior executives, gamers will continue to hide their passion, while other hobbyists feel no such inhibition. Here are several things managers can do to be more inclusive of gamers in the workplace:
1. Ask potential hires about their gaming experience, and challenge them to consider how that might add value to the organization.
Do your applicants enjoy personal activities that might include not only sports, but also gaming? Your explicit mention of gaming should cue the gamer to reveal, rather than conceal, themselves as such.
As a follow-up, ask whether they think their gaming experience has a connection to the job. Despite the attention-seeking title choice for this article, my advice isn’t actually to hire just any gamers, but rather to hire gamers with the capability to recognize the value of their gaming experience.
Remember, though, this might be the first time they’ve really thought about it – especially if they’ve been stigmatized as gamers by parents, teachers, and other employers in the to this point. So show patience and compassion as they formulate their answer. Interestingly, research tells us that this exercise itself is important; by thinking through their gaming experience in concrete terms, people can solidify these connections to the benefit of their work.
2. Normalize gaming conversations in the workplace.
Don’t worry, the sports talk can certainly continue, but our aim should be to have a workplace with more water cooler conversations about optimal D&D character builds, League of Legends strategies, and plans to attend the next gaming convention, such as PAX or Gen Con.
In addition to their sports-based social and team-building activities, workplace managers could organize game nights or consider offering D&D-based professional development. In addition to their potential direct benefits, these formalized organizational activities will work to normalize gaming-related conversations, encourage gamers to be themselves, and go a long way to destigmatize gaming in the workplace.
3. Lead by example. (Play a game.)
Leadership has long been established as a key driver of cultural change. Research also tells us that supportive supervisors are important to encouraging otherwise stigmatized individuals be themselves and thrive. Of course, a leader doesn’t have to be a gamer to educate employees about the importance of gaming-related skills or to help normalize gaming conversations (see previous point). However, nothing signals acceptance of gamers like being a gamer – or at least playing a game.
So, if you are a gamer, talk about games at the water cooler. Break out a board game at lunchtime. And if you aren’t a gamer, why not give it a go?
I have a confession: I am a gamer. I recall once sitting in a meeting where a colleague voiced a negative judgement about a person who enjoys video games. To this day, I regret not speaking out, but as a timid new hire, I opted to protect myself from that “gamer stigma.” But as gaming and AI-driven simulations grow in popularity, and evidence of the merits of gaming grows, perhaps I’ll retire from a place where I have just as many co-workers who want to talk about gaming as sports, and I’ll keep playing games.