Game Theory: Why You Play Video Games (1 Million Subscriber Special!)

Game Theorists reached 1 million subscribers after months of struggling to pass other channels. They joined the elite million-plus club alongside 45 Vevo channels, 35 makeup channels, and multiple Smos channels.

The loyal theorists helped the channel reach this tremendous milestone. The team wants to tackle something big that covers gaming culture as a whole rather than specific game theories.

Why do we play video games? Fun is only the beginning. The deeper questions are why games are fun, why we are compelled to do fun things, and what the games we play say about us as people.

According to Scott Rigby, author of Glued to Games, video games help satisfy three core human needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness.

The feeling of mastery—the sense that you are growing, learning, and progressing. Completionists and achievement hunters are primarily driven by this need through finishing levels, beating bosses, and gaining character powers.

• The sense that you have control over your actions and the world around you • Players want to choose their own adventure rather than being forced down a set path • Games like Skyrim and World of Warcraft exemplify autonomy-oriented gameplay

The need to feel like we matter to others and that we are making a contribution to society. Multiplayer games best exemplify this need, allowing players to engage with and contribute to other people.

• Choices must feel meaningful to the player for them to engage • Players need to feel they have control and their actions impact the virtual world • Mass Effect uses dialog trees to create the illusion of choice, even when decisions yield the same result behind the scenes

• Japan emphasizes rhythm games and dating sims, reflecting their cultural focus on precision and mastery • Historical context: samurai required precision where one move meant life or death, a mentality that persisted through Bushido • Rhythm games are the modern incarnation of the cultural need for precision and decision-making

Dating sims fill a relatedness need created by recent cultural upheaval in gender roles. Men working 60-hour work weeks are less likely to marry, and dating sims provide a relationship substitute with perfect, responsive characters.

With globalization of gaming, players worldwide discover needs they never knew they had. Japanese players like Hutch realized they needed autonomy through Western shooters like Fallout 3 and Battlefield 1942, which offered freedom their domestic linear games did not.

Globalization of gaming brings globalization of culture. Players expose themselves to different ways of thinking and are drawn toward experiences that make them feel more competent, autonomous, and related across cultural boundaries.

Game Theory started because the hosts wanted to explore how games could be used to understand and relate to other cultures. The show explains cultural and historical gaming references that viewers might misinterpret or not understand.

• Ronnie valued autonomy by freelancing and starting multiple shows, websites, and podcasts • He approached the main host with a podcast series idea after only seven episodes • 57 episodes and a million subscribers later, autonomy in creative decisions proved essential to success

Game Theory filled three gaps during the creator's job-hunting period. It made him feel competent when doubting his self-worth, gave him autonomy over a project when feeling unable to control reality, and helped him relate to the gaming community when isolated.

• Learning can be fun and those ideas are related • The gaming community is much more than it is currently given credit for • The community is thoughtful and accepting, worthy of recognition and celebration

• To connect to people and share our interests, goals, and love of humor • To empower ourselves to explore, discover, and shape the world around us • To gain real-life experience points to meet needs we face at different points in our lives

This milestone is as much a celebration of loyal theorists as it is of the creators. The viewers give the team a reason to do something they love week in and week out.

The team extends personal thanks to every loyal theorist who helped achieve this milestone. 63 million total views have been reached and continue growing, representing the community's engagement.

The channel invites viewers to continue watching old theory videos, discover new content they may not have seen, and join the ranks of loyal theorists. The journey continues onward and upward toward 2 million subscribers.