Not all just fun and games, there’s money in it too

Long hours: (Top) Gamers playing at cyber cafes. (Left) Muzaffar uses Twitch to stream himself playing games.

MUZAFFAR Mustafa, better known by his pseudonym Senpaics, is an avid professional gamer who streams himself playing on a site called Twitch.

Twitch is a popular platform where viewers can watch their favourite gamers in action. It is also an avenue where streamers can earn money from the subscription fees paid by the viewers. Muzaffar has also successfully founded an eSports team known as Team BlitzMY.

Muzaffar tries to combat the stereotypes that people usually associate with gaming, such as the stigma that gamers tend to be anti-social.

“We aren’t loners. We are fun to be with, we can spend hours and hours talking about a flaw in a game or the story of a certain comic book and it just boils down to having fun with lots of laughter,” he shares.

Muzaffar strongly disagrees with those who claim most gamers lead unhealthy lifestyles. He says he has never neglected his meals and hygiene. In fact, many of his gamer friends are even health buffs.

 

Muzaffar uses Twitch to stream himself playing games

Muzaffar admits to spending a rather large amount of time playing video games, sometimes up to eight or 12 hours on Twitch.

Gaming can have a bad impact but Muzaffar believes it has only benefited him.

“Whenever I go live on Twitch, I always end up interacting with others from countries all over the world such as Latvia, Kuwait and some places that I’ve never even heard of,” he says.

“Gaming gives me influences that would drive me to create a new story based on an idea I have.”

Muzaffar, also a student, totally denies experiencing any sort of negative effect from his gaming habit.

He affirms that he is successfully able to balance all the priorities in his life, which does include streaming.

“I’m at that age where I know how to manage my time,” he assures.

However, he admits that mental health issues due to gaming fixations do exist.

“It depends on the individual and how they handle situations. I believe everyone should take a break because having hours and hours of just sitting and playing without any food and not going out could affect you,” he shares.

“It is always best to know for yourself the limitations that you have as a gamer or streamer.”

Some spend big to win big

SCHOOLTEACHER Bill (not his real name) will stay connected with his gaming friends through group chats and Discord.

“We are very well organised and we always stay and move together, that is why we can play for so long,” says the 37-year-old.

However, he admits that some of his friends took things too far by spending a fortune on equipment.

“They spend around RM400 to RM1,000 weekly. One friend spent almost US$100,000 (RM408,000) so that he could win constantly,” he says.

Things went from bad to worse for trainee manager Adam who started online gaming initially just to gain extra income through “boosting” (an act of helping other players boost up their character).

His gaming addiction grew out of proportion after he dropped out of school and started working as a night shift waiter in a cafe.

The 23-year-old confesses that he spent nearly 21 hours in cyber cafes and would only stop when he had to go to work.

“The taste of winning and defeating strong opponents kept me going, to the point I did not realise I was addicted,” he says.

However, he managed to battle his addiction when it affected his work performance.

“I got reprimanded several times by my boss due to my poor work performance, so I decided to cut down my gaming hours from 20 hours to two hours daily.”

12 hours at a trot, and no bath!

ASKED about the longest period of time she’s spent on gaming without taking a break, a 17-year-old who only wants to be known as Foxtrot Juliet answers, “I think it was 11-12 hours straight. I didn’t leave my room until I realised it was starting to get dark outside.”

“I would purposely put my phone on mute just so it wouldn’t distract me.”

Foxtrot mentions that she also neglected to eat and shower plenty of times due to her intent focus when gaming.

Foxtrot shares: “Actually, a friend of mine has developed a sleep disorder because of his hardcore gaming addiction. It caused him to have an unbalanced sleep schedule. Even now, he still has this health issue, and it’s clear how it affects his life.”

Foxtrot, although aware of how health-damaging excessive gaming is, still intends to spend her days gaming, as school is over and her SPM exams are complete.

“There’s no controlling a habit so natural to me,” she says.

A dizzying addiction

COLLEGE student Cameron Tjoe, 16, shares, “I’d game all through the day on a weekend, have dinner and play through the night until 3am or 4am.”

Cameron admits he suffers from dizziness and head rush from the long hours of gaming.

“Compared to my friends, it’s pretty normal, many play longer.”

Cameron, on the other hand, likes to think that the pros of gaming take the upper hand rather than the cons when it comes to the matter of mental health.

Cameron reasons, “For many who suffer anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and other similar illnesses, the effect can be quite the opposite, providing an outlet for those who have no place in the world.

“Of course you hear the random story of a guy feeling depressed after playing and losing 300 matches of League of Legends but in many ways, games help mental health more than they harm it.”

Living a screen life

IYAD Thaqif Khairuddin, 13, says, “Basically it’s all about achieving the goal of the game. When you put yourself into the game, you make yourself the character. You imagine that you’re living as the superhero or even the villain of the game, so it’s your life mission to actually achieve the goal of the game.

“So I ignore the real world, and for example, if I’m playing as an assassin, I won’t stop until I assassinate all the targets.”

This drive has caused Iyad to play for six hours on end to the point of bringing his food to the computer and eating it there.

“I play at midnight, so my parents are unaware,” he admits truthfully.

Samantha Lee says she spends about two hours a day gaming but her cousin John would go as far as borrowing money from his parents to support his gaming habit.

“He is making unwise decisions because of gaming and takes it as a way to escape from reality and all his problems,” the 25-year-old law student says.

Zoe Maisara, 16, who is more of a casual gamer, understands where the exhilaration of gaming comes from.

“I guess the feeling of achieving something, like winning a battle or achieving some sort of goal gives me an adrenaline rush. I get super hyped when I win battles in Mortal Kombat X,” she explains.