The DeanBeat: Stanley Pierre-Louis on why games are getting respect
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The recent Games for Change Festival in New York presented refreshing looks about the positive impact of games, particularly during the pandemic.
I attended the event for the first time in-person last week in Times Square, and I sat down for a fireside chat with the ever cheerful Stanley Pierre-Louis, CEO of the Entertainment Software Association.
He’s cheerful in part because the numbers are going his way. A total of 66% of Americans, or 215.5 million people, play video games, and attitudes toward games have gotten more positive during the pandemic, according to the ESA’s 2022 Essential Facts About the Video Game Industry study. The survey found that 97% of all Americans (with the exception of some news commentators) now see the benefits of video games. The report says people believe that video games have brought mental health benefits during the pandemic.
The report says that 89% of players say video games provide stress relief, while 88% say video games help improve cognitive skills. It also says 88% percent of players agree that video games bring different types of people together, while 83% say games introduce people to new friends and relationships, a five percentage point increase from 2021.
MetaBeat 2022
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This is a very different picture from when I was growing up. Games used to be nerdy. And now they’re cool, even if your parents are playing
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