Employment and video games seem like odd bedfellows (they might even be mutually exclusive), but the two have always had a tenuous connection approaching a partnership. Even the idea that gaming doesn’t naturally lead to a job is fading from the public’s consciousness.
A fan of the strategy title Football Manager found a real-life position at an Icelandic football club after spending 8% of his life invested in the game. The club, Knattspyrnufelag Vesturbæjar, doesn’t have much to lose. They’ve fallen to two successive relegations and now reside in the fourth tier of the Icelandic pyramid.
Then, there’s competitive video gaming or esports. Players who excel at their virtual craft can become (paid) superstars in the same shape as Premier League footballers. Most top-flight clubs now have esports divisions for EA Sports FC, including Manchester City.
Overcooked!
A much purer hybrid of work and video games depict the jobs themselves. PowerWash Simulator does exactly what it says on the box, while SCS Software’s Euro Truck Simulator 2 is one of the highest-rated titles on Steam, scoring 10/10 from half a million reviews.
Cooking may take the proverbial cake for its popularity with gamers. The Cooking Mama and Overcooked! franchises recreate the restaurant kitchen in a cartoon fashion but maintain the frenzy of a lunchtime rush. Some developers have distilled cooking to its essential parts – the food itself.
Chopping melons comes easily in the classic Fruit Ninja but the fruit machine is arguably the archetype of this genre. The CasinoStake site notes in its Sweet Bonanza review that the game mixes fruit and candy to create a “beautiful world”. Of course, work means different things to everyone. Space game Elite: Dangerous lets the player moonlight as a delivery boy.
Transferable Skills
There’s a certain irony in all this. According to Statista, 79% of people experience employment stress. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence underlines this figure with one of its own, namely, that 13.7m work days are lost in the UK annually.
Yet, employment sims attract their audiences by offering a relaxing experience. Vice once described it as a “utopian vision of work” where judgement and consequences are minimised, but targets remain achievable. The ease of driving a virtual truck over a real one also helps the experience.
We’re about to come full circle, returning to the connection between gaming and real-world work. Research from Game Academy claims that puzzle games benefit IT workers, while strategy titles boost managers’ credentials. Put another way, playing games creates transferable skills.
Potential Careers
In 2023, Forbes took this logic to its (logical) extreme by stating that employers like to see gaming experience in their candidates. The magazine’s evidence comes from a report from the Manpower Group (.pdf), which lists games alongside the skills they develop.
Again, puzzles feature prominently, developing critical thinking and problem-solving. World of WarCraft and similar multiplayer games may improve social skills and communication.
The report also suggests potential careers. Oddly enough, fans of sports titles like Rocket League seem well-adjusted for the call centre or warehouse work. That might come as a surprise to people honing their skill at flying a car.
Employment sims have been part of gaming since the latter’s formative years. It’s hard to say if anybody expected reality to embrace video gaming, however.
