I watched gaming swallow years of my son’s life, but more than 20 years after I carried this little Russian boy through Novgorod on my shoulders, something good came out of it.
Just before I retired, I was getting a panini for lunch one day, and the young fellow behind the counter asked me if I worked in finance and what I thought of bitcoin. Turns out, he had a side gig as a trainer for a professional gaming team and got paid in bitcoin. Back in the office, I did some quick research and was gobsmacked to discover that DOTA and League of Legends hold pro tournaments filling stadiums. A world championship in Vancouver a few years back had a prize purse in the millions of dollars. A friend of my wife’s has a daughter married to a pro-gamer. Apparently it’s a living.
Just the other day, there was a story on Substack about how the US solved a shortage of air traffic controllers by hiring gamers. Apparently, good gamers make excellent air controllers. Who knew?
Finally, I recall reading some years back that Nintendo alone makes more money every year than all of Hollywood combined.
Full disclosure: I currently have logged about 300 hours playing Crimson Desert, and have been a gamer since before it was done on computers. Still have a full set of D&D dice, too.
One of my nieces who just had a baby is married to a man who was in advertising, lost his job, and had trouble finding work. He majored in Cinema in college. While looking for work he started a You Tube channel for fun, called Aggressively Average. About 1.5 years ago I was having lunch with my niece and she remarked her husband was no longer looking for work. His channel was up to 30K subscribers. She explained how You Tube pays its content creators, and now he made just enough, along with her income, to get by. Content creators get paid, partially, on the number of subscribers. They planned to create together. So I subscribed to their channel though uninterested in the content. I just checked and they are up to 148K subscribers.
I saw your son's YouTube channel has 6.7K subscribers, now they have one more! I have no interest in the content but I know creators get paid, partially, on the number of subscribers. Hope his channel grows.
What a wonderful part of your life you've shared, thank you. While most people read the story of a child turning a passion into a career, I was consumed by the view of your son from a father's perspective. I had the luxury of growing up with two mothers and two fathers, both my parents remarried by the time I was 9. I share your distaste for the description step, it does undermine the relevance of the person. A person who in my experience loves, cares and shapes the lives of those they touch just as much as any parent could. Even to this day, my fathers widow of almost 30 years, aged 90, when she introduces me as her son I still feel a twinge of pride. It's a two way street.
What a wonderfully heartwarming story. It also taught me how prejudiced I am towards the whole gaming universe as I've only seen the effects of sleeplessness on adolescents and how that can make them disengage from school and ruin parental relationships.
I think full credit to your son, who came out the other side and uses his analytical abilities to support himself.
Just before I retired, I was getting a panini for lunch one day, and the young fellow behind the counter asked me if I worked in finance and what I thought of bitcoin. Turns out, he had a side gig as a trainer for a professional gaming team and got paid in bitcoin. Back in the office, I did some quick research and was gobsmacked to discover that DOTA and League of Legends hold pro tournaments filling stadiums. A world championship in Vancouver a few years back had a prize purse in the millions of dollars. A friend of my wife’s has a daughter married to a pro-gamer. Apparently it’s a living.
Just the other day, there was a story on Substack about how the US solved a shortage of air traffic controllers by hiring gamers. Apparently, good gamers make excellent air controllers. Who knew?
Finally, I recall reading some years back that Nintendo alone makes more money every year than all of Hollywood combined.
Full disclosure: I currently have logged about 300 hours playing Crimson Desert, and have been a gamer since before it was done on computers. Still have a full set of D&D dice, too.
One of my nieces who just had a baby is married to a man who was in advertising, lost his job, and had trouble finding work. He majored in Cinema in college. While looking for work he started a You Tube channel for fun, called Aggressively Average. About 1.5 years ago I was having lunch with my niece and she remarked her husband was no longer looking for work. His channel was up to 30K subscribers. She explained how You Tube pays its content creators, and now he made just enough, along with her income, to get by. Content creators get paid, partially, on the number of subscribers. They planned to create together. So I subscribed to their channel though uninterested in the content. I just checked and they are up to 148K subscribers.
I saw your son's YouTube channel has 6.7K subscribers, now they have one more! I have no interest in the content but I know creators get paid, partially, on the number of subscribers. Hope his channel grows.
What a lovely story, what a lovely son, and what a lovely father. I’m beaming with happiness for you.
Thank u
So funny that Novgorod literally translated means "new city"
What a wonderful part of your life you've shared, thank you. While most people read the story of a child turning a passion into a career, I was consumed by the view of your son from a father's perspective. I had the luxury of growing up with two mothers and two fathers, both my parents remarried by the time I was 9. I share your distaste for the description step, it does undermine the relevance of the person. A person who in my experience loves, cares and shapes the lives of those they touch just as much as any parent could. Even to this day, my fathers widow of almost 30 years, aged 90, when she introduces me as her son I still feel a twinge of pride. It's a two way street.
Thank you.
What a wonderfully heartwarming story. It also taught me how prejudiced I am towards the whole gaming universe as I've only seen the effects of sleeplessness on adolescents and how that can make them disengage from school and ruin parental relationships.
I think full credit to your son, who came out the other side and uses his analytical abilities to support himself.