What I learned about the gaming community as a non-gamer

May the force be with you...and it is mighty with these ones!

According to Statista, the gaming community is nearly 2.5 billion people strong around the world. That's more than a quarter of the world's population.

I’m am not one of them. Growing up, my family preferred to watch movies and TV over playing games. We never even owned a gaming system. But we are the odd out.

So to see what it was all about, I journeyed into the world of gaming when I visited the Seneca E-sports Club. 

That's where I met Benjamin Ruiz. Ruiz is a recent immigrant and found the transition to Canada difficult. It's cold, it's a new environment and it's a completely different language.

But, Ruiz found his place amongst the gamers.

"So for me, when I found [gaming] here in Canada, and in the college that I am going to, it was the first step in finding friends" says Ruiz.

Turns out, he was not the only one who came to enjoy each other's company. There were approximately 15 to 20 young men that night at the E-Sports Club. But no women. While Seneca’s club did not have any female participants that night, approximately 45% of gamers are females.

Ruiz encouraged me to give it a try. So I did. And I lost, but I did try a second time. All the while, I was getting support from all the other players. While gaming and e-sports is becoming more competitive in the market and on the playing "field", the driving force seems to be the community that plays the game.