(Newswire.net — November 16, 2022) — Bobby Kotick is the CEO of Activision Blizzard. A new study finds video gaming may be associated with better cognitive performance in children.
Activision Blizzard is on a mission to connect and engage the entire world through video gaming. “It is in the service of joy,” said CEO Bobby Kotick. Additionally, according to a new study, gaming may be associated with better cognitive performance in kids.
“For what you get from a cognitive perspective, there is no question that interacting with video games has the ability to meaningfully improve [a person’s] cognition,” Bobby Kotick said during a 2020 appearance on Leadership Live With David Rubenstein. “It has the ability to improve your spatial relationships with like three dimensions. So there’s really only benefits [to playing video games].”
Gaming Habits of 2,000 Children Analyzed
On Oct. 24, 2022, JAMA Network Open published a study that analyzed data from the in-progress ABCD (adolescent brain cognitive development) Study. Nearly 2,000 children were included in the video game study, which found that those who confirmed playing video games for three or more hours per day displayed better impulse control and working memory on cognitive skills tests compared to kids who never played video games.
“This study adds to our growing understanding of the associations between playing video games and brain development,” said Nora Volkow, M.D., the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which supports the ABCD Study. “Numerous studies have linked video gaming to behavior and mental health problems. This study suggests that there may also be cognitive benefits associated with this popular pastime, which are worthy of further investigation.”
However, neurobiological mechanisms essential to the process aren’t clearly understood. In addition, the associations have not been studied in depth, and their sample sizes of participants have included fewer than 80 participants. Because of that, scientists from the University of Vermont, Burlington, studied data collected when children aged 9 and 10 years old joined the ABCD Study.
The study focused on children who participate in video games for three hours a day or more because the guidelines set by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend no more than one or two hours of gaming per day for older children. It compared that group to those children who never play video games.
Researchers evaluated the kids’ performance on two tasks to test their memory capacity and ability to control impulsive behavior. The study also tracked the children’s brain activity through functional MRI brain imaging while accomplishing their duties. It found that the children who played video games for at least three hours a day were not only faster but also more accurate on both cognitive tasks than the nongamers.
The MRIs illustrated that the kids who play hours of video games a day had higher brain activity in the parts of the brain linked to attention and memory than the kids that do not play video games. The video game players also had more brain activity in the frontal parts of the brain correlated to cognitively demanding tasks while having less activity in the parts of the brain linked to vision.
These kids could grow up to be professional gamers on an esports team. “There are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people capable of playing professional video games,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. “There also is a competitive dynamic, and esports has become a very big way to accomplish success in video gaming. I might advocate for a kid who is proficient in gaming, that there could be a great career for them as an esports athlete.”
While the study didn’t find a link between video gaming and violence, aggression, and/or depression, its authors pointed out that the findings do not suggest that children should spend unlimited time playing video games on computers, mobile phones, and television.
“While we cannot say whether playing video games regularly cause superior neurocognitive performance, it is an encouraging finding, and one that we must continue to investigate in these children as they transition into adolescence and young adulthood,” stated Bader Chaarani, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont. “Many parents today are concerned about the effects of video games on their children’s health and development, and as these games continue to proliferate among young people, it is crucial that we better understand both the positive and negative impact that such games may have.”
Bobby Kotick Talks Activision Blizzard’s Latest Accomplishments
Bobby Kotick’s Activision Blizzard is responsible for legendary franchises such as Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Call of Duty, Candy Crush Saga, and Overwatch.
On Oct. 28, 2022, the company launched Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Within the first three days of release, it became the No. 1 top-selling opening weekend ever in the Call of Duty franchise history by delivering over $800 million worldwide in sell-through revenue. “Thank you to our talented team that has created magic through extraordinary artistry and technology and to the global community of players who find joy and connection through Call of Duty. This milestone belongs to them,” said Bobby Kotick.
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