Game to connect

Sitting behind a microphone in her fluorescent pink room, Ms Denise Teo waves to hundreds of invisible viewers on her computer, all gathered virtually to watch her play a video game.

Here on interactive live-streaming platform Twitch, the 24-year-old is known by her alias Supercatkei. She acknowledges almost every one of the viewers - who appear only as their usernames and an influx of emoticons or messages in the chat box - and thanks repeat subscribers

"I haven't streamed in three days and I already feel rusty. Is that normal?" she muses. "I hope you will enjoy the mess that is today's stream."

Video gaming is often assumed to be the province of anti-social loners cooped up in their rooms.

But the popularity of multiplayer video games such as Valorant and Genshin Impact - an action role-playing game developed by video game company miHoYo in 2020 - has forged an online community that has thrived, especially during the isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Live-streaming video games kicked off in the 2010s on American streaming service Twitch.

Ms Teo started her Twitch channel in August 2020 in a bid to make new friends and play video games such as Apex Legends, which is teamwork-based.

Since turning to it full-time in January last year, she has gained 52,300 followers and earns income through brand endorsements, hosting engagements, Bits (Twitch currency gifted to her by followers) and paid subscriptions of between $5 and $25 to her channel.

She declines to disclose her monthly income.

In one live stream, she teaches her mother to play Valorant.

The two banter on camera as Ms Teo rewards her mum's kills of pixel target men with pizza-flavoured Pretzel sticks, the snack company being her sponsor of the day.

That people want to watch a stranger play video games on a live stream is a concept that still mystifies her. "Isn't it weird? Every day I ask myself why anyone would spend two hours watching me play when they could play the game themselves or watch a professional."

She hazards a guess that her followers like watching her improve in the game.

Video gaming has emerged as a way of maintaining or enriching one's social network, says Dr Vivian Chen, 49, associate professor at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University.

Her research, which involves social interaction and identity in virtual and gaming communities, has found that video gaming became a coping mechanism among families during Covid-19.

"These interactions provide enough communication cues even though you don't get the environmental cues of a physical interaction."

National Institute of Education assistant professor Victor Lim Fei, 44, advocates virtual gameplay and games with his daughter and two sons aged 10 to 13.

In a study last year, his team analysed four cases of parent-child digital co-play on Let's Play gaming videos on YouTube with Roblox, a simulation multiplayer video game and game creation system.

"Social and emotional learning can be developed when the child learns through communicating with parents during gameplay," he says, adding that such play can be used to demonstrate and potentially cultivate empathy.

Usernames or avatars give gamers the option of anonymity, but many also call one another through platforms like instant messaging server Discord while gaming.

Ms Teo says gaming tends to bring out one's true colours as reactions are instantaneous.

She adds: "I'm not trying to make it sound like we're loners, but it's partially the truth that a lot of people who went into video games or live streaming, myself included, don't have many friends in person. The kind of engagement you have with a person on a platform like Twitch is incredibly high.

"Some of my greatest friends are from gaming. I find it easier to open up about my struggles to them. I play games with a lot of my viewers and I also resonate with their struggles.

"In comparison, my friends from school don't game as much as I do, so there is already that pre-existing misalignment."

Through online gaming, she has befriended people from as far away as the Netherlands and Brazil.

"You always have a friend who is awake regardless of the time."

She also met her partner - another video game live streamer who followed her content - through Twitch.

Couples can get creative through online gaming.

In a study Dr Chen conducted with 50 couples aged 21 to 39 in Singapore during the pandemic, some would simulate cohabitation through Animal Crossing, a video game series published by Nintendo. Players assume the roles of anthropomorphic animals who live domestically in a village.

"The couples felt they got to understand each other's values better through the activities they shared virtually. One person we interviewed felt her relationship improved after building a house together."

Polytechnic graduate Airiez Zamora, 19, says: "My girlfriend and I had Minecraft dates where we explore and build houses together. It's more convenient as we live at the opposite ends of Singapore."

When Romeo Lhode, 12, moved from Singapore to Belgium in October last year, he stayed in touch with his friends here through Minecraft - his only form of contact with them.

"When my friends and I really want to build something on Minecraft, we will work together," he says.

Though his mother, pharmacist Reshma Lhode, 42, has her reservations about whether he is balancing his physical and cognitive development, she is ultimately supportive of his gaming passion.

Besides bonding with his friends, her son has learnt scientific concepts through games such as Kerbal Space Program, a single-player game which incorporates scientific knowledge in the building of new technology.

It has inspired him to become an aerospace engineer.

Dr Chen observes that gamers tend to create and maintain multiple online personas, which they code-switch between depending on the needs of the game.

"If a person were to play an in-game character whose sole goal is to simply win and be aggressive, the person will behave accordingly."

Mr Airiez says: "If my role is to engage teammates, I will be more expressive. However, my character online does not represent me in person."

Players often spend money on in-game items to customise who they are in the game.

In Valorant, gamers can express their individuality through "GunSkins", or cases for their virtual weapons.

University student Natalie Teo, 22, has spent a few hundred dollars on Genshin Impact to purchase in-game weapons for fan-favourite character Ayato.

"I know of friends who have spent thousands of dollars on the game. As long as it brings you happiness, why not?"

According to database company Statista, Genshin Impact has more than 85 million downloads. It earned US$2 billion (S$2.76 billion) from in-game purchases in its first year of release, the BBC reported in September last year.

Ms Teo says the game's appeal lies in its blend of real-world history with Japanese anime-inspired fantasy, its quality graphics and fleshed-out characters, with whom she and her friends identify.

"We feel seen and it brings us comfort that we are not alone."

Her social circle widened due to the game's popularity.

"I connect with people on a deeper level if I play Genshin with them. The game gives you a chance to immerse yourself in the world and go through the lore and hurdles. These challenges allow players to help one another out. That's the beauty of it."

Some have channelled their ardour for gaming into doing good.

Ms Tea Zi Le, 22, who is known by her username Skyllabtw, started broadcasting her video games on Twitch in August 2020 and went on to hold "charity streams", in which viewers make e-donations by scanning QR codes on her videos.

Last year, she raised $888 for the Singapore Association for Mental Health (SAMH) and $1,212 for Singapore's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She is now hosting a charity campaign for SAMH on giving.sg.

"I used to be a very private person," she says. "Now, I host gaming tournaments to bring people from all parts of the world together."