The Purpose of Play

 In order to survive, human beings must breathe, consume food and water, get sleep, and keep warm through wearing clothing or by finding heated shelter. These physiological needs form the base of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (1943), a concept created by Abraham that categorises the types of needs people have and the importance of those needs.

A simplified version of the hierarchy of needs.

When it comes to games, they would seemingly fit within the Esteem category. Completing a game, especially a challenging one, rewards a person with a sense of pride and accomplishment.  However, it can be argued that play also overlaps with other categories in the hierarchy. Playing among family and friends helps strengthen or maintain bonds, supporting the Belonging section of the hierarchy.

Play can also serve as a means to generate income, fulfilling the need for financial security in the Safety section of the hierarchy. For example, the average salary for a footballer playing in the English Premier League is $3.9 million (Soccer Blade, 2022).

Even modern video game culture offers a way to earn money via play, with examples being those who livestream themselves playing a video game through websites like Twitch, earning money through donations, advertisement revenue, and sponsorship deals. In 2021, The ten highest earning streamers on Twitch all each made millions (Werner Geyser, 2022).

Someone who plays video games professionally may also win money in esports tournaments. The 2021 International Dota 2 Championships, the winning team was rewarded with just over $18 million (Esports Earnings, 2022).

The winners of the Dota 2 Championships 2021

Utopia and the Threat of Boredom

As technology and the global quality of life slowly improve, the psychological importance of games may prove much more important in the future.

In The Grasshopper by Bernard Suits (1978), the author writes about a hypothetical utopia where science has advanced far enough to easily fulfil everyone’s basic needs, freeing the world from suffering and conflict. In this post-scarcity future, people will turn to games for stimulation; essentially seeking out conflict in a controlled environment.

Of course, Bernard’s vision of the future is unlikely to materialise within a few decades, though perhaps the next century could be the Age of Play.

References:

Abraham Harold Maslow. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review. 50 (4): 370–396.

Soccer Blade. (2022) Pro Soccer Player Salaries (Revealed). Available at: https://soccerblade.com/how-much-soccer-players-paid/ (Accessed: 22/11/2022).

Werner Geyser. (2022) How Much do Twitch Streamers Make? [+Twitch Media Value Money Calculator]. Available at: https://influencermarketinghub.com/twitch-money-calculator/ (Accessed: 22/11/2022).

Esports Earnings. (2022) The International 2021. Available at: https://www.esportsearnings.com/tournaments/49174-the-international-2021 (Accessed: 22/11/2022).

Bernard Suits. 1978. The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia. Broadview Press.