Robert Ellis, a boy full of spent hours. Those hours were not spent on school or work, but on video games in which he spends an average of 2,000 hours on just one game.

Monster Hunter World, a Capcom action role-playing game, came out on January 26. Ellis, a sophomore, downloaded the game on his Xbox, and in less than two weeks, he had already played 107 hours of the game. Every day he comes home from school, does his homework and then plays video games for eight hours.

So developed into gaming, Ellis was invited to be a part of the Esports team called The Paladins, which is a competitive global Esports team that competes in video games for money.

Ellis declined.

He does not want to play games for money or be competitive in them.

“I like how I can escape from reality for just a couple of seconds,” Ellis said. “Reality is not bad, but it’s nice to get away.”

Though Ellis has a love for video games, he does not like mobile games almost at all.

“Most mobile games are like loot boxes and are just one big microtransaction,” Ellis said. “ They make you wait for hours to have something you already could have with the things you worked hard to collect.”

Video games may be fun to play during his free time, but Ellis is also a social person. “If I could, I would spend more time with my friends or family, but they usually don’t have time,” Ellis said. “So, games are a fun and exciting way to pass time.”

Ellis thinks that video games can help anyone relax because it is always nice to experience a new world.

“If you just want a couple of minutes, or maybe just an hour, just play a game, it’s better than doing drugs,” Ellis said. “If your worries are a bit down, from things like bad grades, you can play video games.”

PHOTO MICHAEL FRANKLIN