The Harmful Effects of Video Game Addiction // World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Crossfire, Blade & Soul, Final Fantasy

The Harmful Effects of Video Game Addiction 

(Video games are growing in popularity. Pixabay. Free images.)

The Popularity of Video Games Is Increasing

Ryan van Cleave, a former World of Warcraft (WoW) player, tells how he was so engrossed in the game that he neglected his family and his job, missed sleep, and even thought about committing suicide. Speaking of his former time as a WoW gamer, van Cleave wrote: 

"Playing WoW makes me feel godlike. I have ultimate control and can do what I want with few real repercussions. The real world makes me feel impotent … – the littlest hitch in daily living feels profoundly disempowering." (Lush)

(Read more about van Cleave below.)

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Popular since the 1990s, Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have gained billions of dollars of revenue. In the year 2016, World of Warcraft alone had a revenue of $9.23 billion (Leack). And, in 2016, World of Warcraft had 5.5 million subscribers, but that number is slowly decreasing as people look for alternative ways of entertaining themselves. But, in spite of its decline, World of Warcraft is still holding millions of people captive and other MMORPGs are gaining much revenue around the world. 

There is a website called thegamerwidows.com, which was set up for the lonely spouses of gamers, who are engrossed in electronic gaming. If their gamer spouses leave World of Warcraft, sadly, it's likely that they will take up gaming in other platforms, unless they find true hope. (See the end of this article for more about true hope).

The global market for electronic games (nonphysical games) is very popular and it is growing each year. It includes games for PC, tablets, smartphones, and consoles. Multiple billions of dollars are raked in by the electronic game industry each year. Newzoo reported in April of 2017 that it was estimated that the "The Global Games Market Will Reach $108.9 Billion in 2017 With Mobile Taking 42%". (McDonald).


Video games can be like drugs.

Like an addictive substance, such as a narcotic, video games continue to attract millions of people. A number of years after narcotics were popular for many Americans, technology progressed to the point where video games came out that drew crowds of young adults, teens, and children. Many now are addicted to games such as World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and Crossfire. 

According to the article by The Verge titled, "If 'World of Warcraft' is a drug, Blizzard is a cruel drug dealer," a user of World of Warcraft, named Monkkicks, wrote this statement on the World of Warcraft forums:

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(Video game controllers. Pixabay. Free images.)

"Hi i play wow every day usually for 8 hours. I do not enjoy it, but i still play it. i don't even know why. [...]

i want to be able to play less but i just can't do it. all the people i have met in wow stopped playing or play less than what i do.

what keeps me drawing me back to this game? why am i addicted? does anyone know a good way to cut back on wow? or anything to get my mind off the game?

thanks for reading..." (Sottek)

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Ryan van Cleave, a former World of Warcraft (WoW) player, tells how he was so engrossed in the game that he neglected his family and his job, missed sleep, and even thought about committing suicide. Speaking of his former time as a WoW gamer, van Cleave wrote: 

The Harmful Effects of Too Much Video Game Playing

Ever since Computer Space came out in 1971, video games have become more and more realistic and life-like. Graduating from primitive 2D graphics to life-like 3D environments, computer games have had an impact on kids, and adults, for more than forty years. While there is some controversy about whether computer games are beneficial or harmful, the impact they have on people is well documented and studies conducted over the years have brought up some interesting results.

The Effects of Violent Video Games

Many studies have been undertaken to see how violent video games effect children. One such study shows that there is a connection between violent video games and aggressive behavior.  Dr. Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., of the Iowa State University in Ames has conducted a study on the gaming habits of over a thousand children from Japan and the United States (7). The study has revealed some startling facts about the effects of video games on children.

 During the course of the experiment, the children’s video game habits were studied, along with their behavior. At the start, the behavior of the children--whether they were more passive or aggressive--was taken into account. The participants rated their own behavior, but Anderson’s team also gathered information from their peers and teachers (7). Anderson and his colleagues concluded that children who played violent video games on a regular basis were more aggressive than their peers who rarely or never played such games (7).

 Anderson writes in an article for the American Psychological Association: "High levels of violent video game exposure have been linked to delinquency, fighting at school and during free play periods, and violent criminal behavior (e.g., self-reported assault, robbery)” (1).

 Others experts disagree with Anderson’s research, claiming that violence in general is not the problem with video games. Dr. Cheryl K. Olson, a director of the Center for Mental Health and the Media at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston is quoted by CNN as saying, “I think there may well be problems with some kinds of violent games for some kinds of kids. We may find things we should be worried about, but right now we don't know enough” (7).

While there is controversy over whether all genres of violent video games are harmful, research regarding the effects of violent video games on the brain has brought up some startling results. According to a fairly recent study by Dr. Vincent Matthews of Indiana University, computer games have an impact on the brain. A number of participants, ages 18 to 29,  were randomly chosen to play a Mature-rated, first-person shooter game (13). The other group played no computer games during the study. None of the participants had much experience playing computer games and all were men (9).

 In the first part of the experiment conducted by Matthews, the subjects were given counting and emotional tests to complete while their brains were scanned by a functional MRI machine. During the first week, the group assigned the video game played it for 10 hours on average (13).

 After one week had passed, both groups were given counting and emotional tests and scanned again by the functional MRI machine. The scans revealed that the game-playing group had less activity in the areas of their brains where attention, emotions, and the restraint of impulses are centered (9). The group that played the Mature-rated game did not respond to emotional content as they had during the first test (13). A test that involved counting revealed that the video game group had decreased activity in the areas of their brains where concentration and attention are controlled (9).

 During the second week, neither group played video games. The testing that took place that the end of the second week revealed that the video game group had improved (13) in their performance compared to the previous test, but had not quite reached the results of their first test, prior to their playing the game. The control group, which had played no video games, performed the same, as expected.

 Matthews is quoted in an article on Time.com as saying, “Behavioral studies have shown an increase in aggressive behavior after violent video games, and what we show is the physiological explanation for what the behavioral studies are showing. We’re showing that there are changes in brain function that are likely related to that behavior” (9).

 The activity of the brain is not the only thing to be affected in the brain. Dr. Paul Grasby of the Hammersmith Hospital in London obtained evidence that playing video games can become chemically addictive. He and his fellow researchers learned that the production of dopamine doubles in the brain of a person who consistently plays video games (15). The researchers found that the dopamine produced had the same effect as amphetamines or Ritalin injected into the blood stream (15). Dopamine is considered to be a hormone associated with pleasure (4) and Grasby’s team has compared video games to taking “a dose of speed” (15).

 Video Game Addiction

WOW in the Future

This dopamine craving makes sense in light of the obsession of many with massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Games such as World of Warcraft and EverQuest bring the player into a fantasy world where he or she can interact with thousands of other online players and complete missions in complex maps. Each player controls a character he or she can use to gain advancements and special abilities. Most players of such games become completely engrossed in his or her game. A website called gamerwidow.com has started that is for “gamer widows” to “come and share their frustrations with their fellow gamer widow(er)s, and discuss their feelings and develop a [camaraderie] that only those in their positions understand” (6).

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