This story is jointly published as part of the Utah College Media Collaborative, a cross-campus project bringing together emerging journalists from Salt Lake Community College, Southern Utah University, the University of Utah, Utah Tech University and Weber State University. The collaborative is an Amplify Utah project with support from PBS Utah.

As gaming worlds grow larger, more detailed and increasingly intense, the debate persists about the influence of video games on mental health and whether they can “rot” the brain.

It all started with a single flicker: pixelated shapes, aligning blocks, stacking sets and scoring points. The thrill was in the simplicity, controlling over dancing pixels on a TV screen.

Then came the era of adventure, where the journey through a mushroom kingdom captivated a generation.

These early games weren’t deep or long, but they hooked players in a way that forever changed and set a new norm of social culture.

Fast forward to today, and the stakes are even higher. It’s no longer clearing lines or jumping over obstacles. Now, players are controlling super soldiers in an intergalactic war, competing in front of thousands of fans inside a sold-out arena.

This question has echoed through generations, from the old-school arcade days to the rise of online multiplayer communities, the explosive growth of streaming platforms and the impact of esports.

When slang becomes social commentary

In 2024, the Oxford University Press named “brain rot” as its word of the year, making it the second year in a row that a Gen Z/Alpha-influenced term has shaped the course of where communication is heading.

The term has grown beyond meme references, becoming a target of criticism of modern digital media consumption.

“I can see why people think gaming is brain rot; you can definitely take it that far, but the term is kind of overused,” Spencer Tracy, student and captain of the Halo Esports team, said. “It’s more about overexposure to [the] media in general. That’s not just video games — that’s social media, movies, and the millions of ads we see every day. You can get brain rot from anything if you overconsume it.”

Ironically, Gen Z and Gen Alpha — the same groups creating and consuming digital content — have also embraced the term “brain rot” on social media, one of the various platforms accused of causing it.

“It demonstrates a somewhat cheeky self-awareness in the younger generations about the harmful impact of social media that they’ve inherited,” Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said.

Gaming has long faced criticism for its impact on players. Parents, educators and psychologists have debated its influence for decades, questioning whether it inspires creativity and strategic thinking or fuels addiction and social withdrawal.

The rise of platforms like Twitch, Facebook Gaming, and Kick has only increased discussion as thousands of players spend hours on streaming instead of engaging in real-world activities.

While some view gaming as a contributor to so-called “brain rot,” others see video games as tools for learning, skill development, social bonding and even professional opportunities.

With gaming reaching more than $100 billion in revenue in 2023 and esports becoming a legitimate competitive platform, students and faculty express how gaming provides them with entertainment, community building and personal growth. To these gamers, games have far surpassed the meaning of “just playing games”; they have become a cultural bridge to a new era of communication.