Introduction
Since the 80s brought home entertainment systems into millions of households, video games have taken a strong position on the market ushering new jobs, products, and ideas. It didn’t take long for organized competitive gaming (esports) to appear, with numerous tournaments attracting gamers from all over the world.
However, are esports valuable only to video game marketers and console manufacturers, or is there a deeper value? In this article, we are going to go through some of the benefits that competitive gaming holds for education.
Improved cognitive function
Doctor Peter Gray, in his article on cognitive benefits of video games, shows evidence that video games improve our spatial attention, memory, and multitasking abilities. All of these skills represent a significant set of personality traits that allow us to learn faster, adopt new ideas, and extend our ability to focus during class, manage multiple tasks simultaneously, or create a reasonable schedule.
So if you’re still coping with these cognitive functions, try pursuing a professional gaming career. You might not reach the top but you’ll fix those issues that stopped you from getting your college degree.
Scholarship programs
In the US, alone, there are more than 450 institutions of higher education that provide esport programs with full scholarships for students interested in pursuing this career. What this means is that we could expect, soon enough, many aspiring gamers signing up at a college much like basketball and football students do. It's general knowledge that most students get through their college only thanks to their athletic endeavor, while they’re provided with a reliable assignment guide to help them with their homework, essays, and other academic challenges that they might face.