Make Gaming A Part Of Your Social Life Too

If you’re the kind of person who needs gaming in their life, then you might find yourself dedicating a lot of time to video games. There is a prevailing stereotype about gamers being on the more introverted side, and a lot more likely to spend time alone than with others. Well, when you’re playing the latest Final Fantasy game clocking in dozens of hours of your attention, it’s easy to see how it can result in having a little less time and space for socializing. However, gaming doesn’t have to be what keeps you from connecting with people, it can connect you with people as well.

Get into the multiplayer space

The idea that gaming has helped people build communities online is by no means a new one. It wasn’t even new when it really exploded into popularity with World of Warcraft, but now there are games of almost any genre that can be played online, and the chance to form communities around it. Whether it’s your guildmates in MMOs, or you start putting time into fighting games and connecting with other players and online communities, there’s almost always room to engage with the online scene. Not only can it be found in the games themselves, but gaming forums can be an excellent place to start getting to know people, and you can find long-lasting friends in communities of shared fandom.

Game in a different space

The chances are that, if you’re really into video games, you’re going to be really into other kinds of games as well. There are spaces where you play these games with people in real life. If you’re a fan of strategy and competition, then you can find your nearest Magic the Gathering community, with MTG proxies making it easier than ever to get over that initial, usually expensive barrier to entry. If you’re a lover of roleplaying games, especially things like Baldur’s Gate 3, then you might want to look for D&D or other tabletop roleplaying game groups in your area. Even board gaming has really kicked off in the last few years as a scene, in large part due to the growing demand for gaming experiences that allow people to also socialize.

Hop on stream

It’s not just playing the games that can get people passionate about them. Talking about those games, experiencing them vicariously through others, and reliving favorite moments is a huge draw. It’s why Let’s Plays on YouTube became such a huge genre of content, and it has now led to streaming becoming one of the most popular means of online content creation and consumption. Finding streamers that you like not only gives you a chance to connect with them, but you’re a lot more likely to find friends and people to talk to in their community. You might even want to become a streamer yourself to share your own love of gaming with a community that you build.

As gaming’s popularity continues to grow and stay strong among the people who have grown into adults alongside it, more and more people are finding it as a means to socialize and hang out with other people, as well. Consider how you can do it with the tips above.