Ben Affleck has revealed that PC gaming has been a major part of his life for decades, with StarCraft standing out as the game that consumed the most of his time.
Speaking on a recent podcast, the actor and filmmaker said that after becoming famous, he spent roughly three years mostly staying home and playing Blizzard's real time strategy game.
Affleck's comments add an unexpected gaming chapter to the period immediately following the success of Good Will Hunting, which he co wrote and starred in alongside Matt Damon.
StarCraft Arrived Just as Affleck Became a Major Hollywood Name
Good Will Hunting won two Academy Awards at the 1998 ceremony and helped push Affleck into mainstream fame.
Only a few months later, StarCraft launched in March 1998.
Affleck said the game probably took more time from him than any other title, describing a period when he had recently become famous but largely stayed home playing it.
That timing lines up with one of the biggest PC game launches of the era.
StarCraft reportedly shipped around 1.5 million copies during its first nine months and became one of the defining strategy games of the late 1990s.
| Game | Affleck's comments |
|---|---|
| StarCraft | Played heavily for about three years after becoming famous |
| DOOM | Played for long stretches while working on Good Will Hunting |
| Donkey Kong | Played extensively earlier in life |
| Tetris | Long time favorite |
| Ms. Pac Man | Played heavily and still owns an arcade cabinet |
| Madden | Still plays today |
| NBA 2K | Still plays today |
| Valorant | Enjoys it but struggles against younger players |
StarCraft was not the beginning of Affleck's gaming interest, however.
DOOM Was Part of the Good Will Hunting Writing Period
Affleck said he also played DOOM extensively before and during the time he was working on Good Will Hunting.
He described taking long breaks from writing to play the shooter, saying he was surprised by how long ago the game had already been released.
DOOM launched in 1993 and became one of the most influential PC games ever made, helping establish the first person shooter as a major genre.
For Affleck, it appears to have been part of his regular routine during the years before Hollywood success changed his life.
His gaming history stretches even further back.
He said he spent huge amounts of time playing Donkey Kong, Tetris and Ms. Pac Man in arcades and at home.
He still owns a Ms. Pac Man arcade cabinet.
Affleck Still Plays Games Today
Affleck says he continues to play games, although his current habits are different from the years when StarCraft dominated his free time.
Sports games are now part of the mix.
He plays titles from the NBA 2K and Madden series, including sessions with his son.
He has also spent time with Valorant and described it as a strong game, even though he struggles with its highly competitive player base.
Affleck joked about being regularly beaten by much younger players with faster reactions.
That experience will probably be familiar to older players returning to competitive shooters, where mechanical skill, map knowledge and reaction time can create a steep learning curve.
He Misses the Popularity of Real Time Strategy Games
Affleck also commented on the declining mainstream visibility of real time strategy games.
He said he still likes RTS and civilization building games but feels that the genre has fallen out of fashion compared with its position in earlier decades.
That view reflects how different the PC gaming landscape looks compared with the late 1990s.
Games such as StarCraft, Command & Conquer and Age of Empires once represented some of the biggest releases on PC.
Real time strategy games still have active communities today, but the genre no longer dominates mainstream PC gaming in the same way.
StarCraft Clearly Left the Biggest Mark
Affleck's gaming history covers arcade classics, first person shooters, sports games and modern competitive titles, but StarCraft appears to have made the strongest impression.
Spending years playing the game during the period when his Hollywood career was accelerating shows how central PC gaming was to his personal life at the time.
More than two decades later, he is still playing games and following genres that interested him long before he became one of Hollywood's most recognizable actors.
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