Perceptions of video gaming careers and its implications on parental mediation

Since its advent in the 1970s, the video game industry has superseded its film counterpart, sporting a growth rate quadrupling that of other media and entertainment sectors. In contemporary times, video gaming occupations — namely game designers, professional gamers and YouTubers — have gained prominence, bolstered by the support of the media industry and government agencies. Yet, little remains known about the perceptions of these careers from the standpoint of parents and young gamers. This dearth of knowledge thus provides an impetus for research since parents’ perceptions could arguably influence the management of their children’s video gaming consumption. Results yielded through qualitative interviews with 35 respondents revealed that parental mediation was practiced via ‘distant mediation’. This is characterised by parents ostensibly withdrawing or remaining remotely detached from their children’s video gaming whilst monitoring them from afar. When perspectives of gaming careers were further scrutinised through a comparative scope, the findings also reflected that parents and children shared accommodating attitudes toward vocations in the video gaming sector