Who hasn’t spent hours of their time browsing on YouTube for music videos of their favorite singers? When songs became popular and musicians produced elaborate music videos, everybody wanted to watch them.
For years, all we could do was watch them on TV, waiting for the moment they aired on MTV. But everything has changed since YouTube.
Music videos are still very successful and bring in a lot of money for the music industry, but the space they previously held in entertainment is no longer as large, because new forms of leisure have emerged to compete for the free time of young Zambians.
Games like PUBG, CS:GO, Free Fire, Aviator and Candy Crush have become part of everyday life; people still consume plenty of musical content, but not with the same intensity as before.
Today, people have more options for what to do in their free time, and among these various options, video games emerge as a more active form of entertainment, an activity that people can choose to do both alone and with friends.
This growth of gaming in Zambia didn’t happen because of expensive consoles like the PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch (although they also contributed a lot), but rather because of the smartphone.
With the drop in prices of entry-level Android devices and the expansion of 4G, many people who previously couldn’t afford it were able to buy new smartphones. So the games are right there, easily accessible in the pockets of most people, especially the younger crowd.
The way games are fully integrated into the daily life of the population opens doors for other opportunities, such as the new “game influencers.” They are Zambian streamers who make videos for YouTube and Twitch, earning money through the audience that watches them playing and commenting on matches.
There are also professional eSports players who started playing as amateurs in matches with friends and today now make a living from competitions sponsored by major companies.
Today we already have so many types of games available on the market that it is almost impossible for someone not to get involved with at least one.
For example, there are Battle Royale games and FIFA, which fall into that eSports category mentioned above. These are the favorite types of games for younger people, who like to spend hours playing while chatting with friends over Discord.
There are also more casual games made to pass the time, like Candy Crush-style puzzles. These tend to be played more by the slightly older population… just peek at someone’s screen when they are on the bus or in line somewhere and you’ll see.
And so, by offering various styles and types of games that appeal to everyone regardless of age or social class, the gaming industry has become increasingly strong and is becoming an important part of everyday life. But this doesn’t mean that passive entertainment is being left behind; Instagram Reels and TikTok are there to prove that there is room for everyone.
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