About a week ago back in December 2017, the World Health Organization has raised an issue of “gaming disorder” that’s lurking in the current generation. The news was also covered by Malaysia’s local paper, the Star, which states that “gaming disorder” is a mental health issue which affects the citizen’s livelihood. Now WHO will be updating and publishing the 11th International Classification of Diseases index this year which hasn’t been updated since 1992 with “gaming disorder” included in the list.

The list of symptoms includes impaired control over gaming in terms of frequency and duration, increased priority given to gaming and continued escalation of the activity despite negative consequences. On another study which was conducted in the fifth Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which was published in 2013, psychiatrists have already been recognized as a “condition for further study”.

Most countries have begun recognizing the rising issue which has led to the inclusion and recognition of the “gaming disorder” in the index. However the news has enraged many gamers who are competing healthily or actually making a career out of gaming. The stigma of “games are bad” has been around for a very long time until recently when world competitions were given the spotlight which has shed light for gamers to make a career out of it.

With “gaming disorder” officially included in the International Classification of Diseases index, how will it affect the gaming industry that has been increasingly booming?