Gaming just got even more interactive in China. Find out about the new trend of hiring hot escorts to play video games with lonely gamers.
Gaming is not, how shall we put this delicately? The most “social” of activities. Sure their are plenty of multiplayer games out there, and we agree that gaming has connected millions of people worldwide, but let’s face it, no matter how mainstream gaming has become there is still a stigma that gamers are lonely people.
To be fair this isn’t what most gamers look like. For one there are a lot more Hot Pockets and Mountain Dew in reality than pictured in this photo.
Now let’s be clear, not all gamers are lonely anti-social stereotypes from the 1980’s. Many of course are well adjusted people with robust social lives we love to smash a koopa just as much as the next person. But as much as gaming has become mainstream there are still those out there with less than ideal social lives out there who use gaming as a means to connect with the outside world.
Which is why a growing trend in China is making online companionship a new hotly desired service among the lonely gamers in the Middle Kingdom.
Of course this service comes with a price. For 20-100 Yuan ($3-16) an hour you can hire your very own video game escort or “Gamecasters” as they are known to help you shout “LEEERRROOOY JENKINS!” on your dungeon raids.
The demand comes mostly from white collar workers with disposable income who are looking for some company to join them in their video game adventures.
One online firm which helps connect gamecasters to players reported that the women involved in this endeavor typically do not require that much gaming expertise to be successful. In fact they claim that a sweet sounding voice often goes a lot further than being able to bust out endless headshots in Call of Duty. Many of the women hired are moonlighting college students and office workers looking to make some extra income.
Judging by the smile on that guy’s face, that is the best 3 bucks he ever did spend.
An income that typically is around 3,000 Yuan ($485) a month, and for the elite (or in this case “leet”) female gamer companions, they can expect to earn about 8,000 ($1,300) a month. Pretty good money for being the Luigi to someone’s Mario, but keep in mind that these gamecasters often give 5-10% of their earnings to the escort firms that connect them to their johns clients.
Video games exploiting women? Nooooooo never.
Although that last part is a joke, there is some very real concern that many of these escort firms are merely fronts for online prostitution in disguise as gaming companions.
So if you are ever feeling lonely in a country of close to 2 billion people and need someone to ride shotgun in your Warthog, shell out 3 bucks and you won’t be lonely any longer.
Written by Editorial Staff