People around the world enjoy hobbies such as reading, exercising, creating music, etc. etc. But in recent years gaming has exploded in popularity and has led many to ask, “Is gaming a hobby?”

Is Gaming a Hobby?

According to Google a hobby is “an activity done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure.” By this definition gaming is indeed a hobby as it is often done for pleasure during times when people are relaxing such as after work or school.

If you really think about it, all a hobby is is something that you enjoy doing to pass your time. What better way to pass your time than gaming?

Now some people will argue that gaming is not really a hobby because you are not really building or creating anything, but I would strongly disagree. 

In fact studies have shown that gaming can increase hand eye coordination and memory. So you can say you are building your hand eye coordination and memory.

Also, if you have ever gamed then you know how satisfying it can be to beat a certain level in a game or achieve a certain rank on an online multi-player game. 

I know to many people it may not seem like it, but to me this is building and creating something and makes me feel a sense of accomplishment. 

Now it is possible that  you can abuse gaming and become so focused on gaming that you neglect other facets of your life, but this can happen with any hobby, not just gaming. 

Down below I will discuss whether or not gaming is a good hobby as well as how you can turn gaming into a productive hobby and maybe even career. 

Is Gaming a Good Hobby

If you enjoy gaming, and play casually, then gaming can be a great hobby. Gaming is a great way to relax and gives you a sense of accomplishment when you complete different tasks, quests or ranks within a game. 

I think gaming gets unfairly criticized for being a hobby that wastes time because people abuse the hobby and play hours a day, day in and day out. Sometimes these people even neglect things such as work, school, family, health and friends. 

But like I already mentioned, you can do that with any hobby.

How many artists do you read about who spend hours a day creating music, often missing sleep and skipping meals. Wouldn’t this be considered destructive?

Or a person who skips out on school and work just to swim and surf at the beach all day? Wouldn’t you consider that an irresponsible hobby?

Now I am all for shrugging off responsibilities every now and again and just enjoying myself (trust me I am the king of shirking my responsibilities), but these things must be done within reason. Unfortunately many of us can’t just focus on our hobbies all day everyday. 

I do feel that gaming is a good, enjoyable and relaxing hobby as long as you are able to maintain a good life balance while indulging in your hobby.

But what if you could game all day everyday and turn your passion for gaming into something more. In the next section I will talk about how you can make gaming a productive hobby and maybe even turn it into a career. 

How to Make Gaming a Productive Hobby

If you want to make gaming a productive hobby, you can try things such as creating Youtube gaming videos, streaming, gaming with friends or getting really good at a certain game or genre of game. These are all great ways to be social, creative, and make money.

Youtube Gaming Videos

Creating a Youtube gaming channel does a couple things. One, it gives you an excuse to game since you will have to game in order to create content and two it could turn your hobby into something that makes you money.

If you are making enough money to live off of your Youtube gaming channel then BOOM, you just turned your hobby into your job. Pretty cool huh?

Now it is definitely easier said than done, but I believe that with dedication and determination anyone can succeed. Including you.  

If you want to know more about gaming as a career then check out my article here. 

Streaming

Similar to creating a Youtube gaming channel, streaming the games you play is another way to way to turn your hobby into something a bit more productive. 

Now I will say that growing as a streamer is a bit more challenging than growing as a Youtube channel, but that’s not to say it is impossible. 

And if you game a few hours a day after work why not turn on the stream and see who pops in. 

Now if you really want to grow on Twitch, or if you want to see how Twitch and Youtube compare to each other, then check out the articles I linked. 

Gaming With Friends

Like I mentioned above having gaming as a hobby can pull you away from your friends and family. But what if you could game with your friends and family? Now you are doing two things at once!

One of my favorite things about gaming is hopping on with friends and family and catching up on life while we slay some noobs. 

Now I will say that nothing can truly beat in person, human to human interaction, but chatting online is still social and can help you to maintain a healthy social life balance. 

Becoming Good at a Certain Game or Genre

If you become good at a certain game, like really good, then you could use your skills to make money gaming. I am talking about e-sports my friends. 

E-sports is a booming industry my friends and people are making millions of dollars gaming. Now whether or not gaming is a good career is an entirely different discussion, but these days you can definitely make money through gaming.

In fact you don’t even have to be a pro to make many. Many websites these days allow you to play against and wager against other gamers.

For example, if you were really good at Fortnite you could wager someone a certain amount of money and whoever won the wager would collect the pot. 

You can wager things such as who will live the longest in a game or who will end up with the most kills at the end of a match. Every game will be different, but these are just some examples. 

Now trying to go pro is also an option, but just know that going pro at a game can be extremely difficult and may not be worth the time you will have to put in in order to reach a professional level. 

If you are good at a game you could also offer coaching sessions or how to guides that people who are looking to improve could purchase from you. 

Again these are just a few examples of how you could turn your gaming hobby into a side hustle or something that is not just you passing your time gaming. 

In the end gaming is certainly a hobby and if used correctly it can be a great way to relax and possibly make some money as well.

Sources

https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/health/story/playing-video-games-can-give-better-eye-to-hand-coordination-and-improve-memory-study-1666912-2020-04-14#:~:text=A%20recent%20study%20has%20revealed,eye%2Dto%2Dhand%20coordination.&text=Research%20has%20shown%20that%20experience,hand%20coordination%20and%20superior%20memory.