Ben Affleck has shared his past struggles with addiction to Starcraft, detailing how the game consumed three years of his life during a formative period of his career. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Affleck described how, after achieving fame, he would spend his days exclusively playing Blizzard's iconic real-time strategy title. "There was a game called Starcraft that probably took the most life out of me for a period of time. I had just gotten famous, and all I did was stay home for three years and play Starcraft."
Affleck also revealed his current gaming habits, admitting to playing Valorant, the popular tactical shooter from Riot Games. However, he expressed frustration with the game's steep learning curve and the skill gap between himself and younger players who have grown up with competitive titles. "The problem with that game is that—the kids that have been raised playing, I just get fuckin' rocked. I'm like, 'Are you mother fuckers cheating?' And I get mad," he explained. "And they're like 11, they're like, 'Fuck you loser!' It's very humiliating, but that's a great game."
His gaming history extends beyond Starcraft and Valorant. Affleck recalled playing early titles like Doom and Quake extensively during the development of Good Will Hunting. "We were doing Good Will Hunting, we were playing Doom… I remember writing and taking these long breaks to play Doom," he said, reflecting on the game's 1993 release. Other games mentioned include Myst, Donkey Kong, Tetris, and Miss Pac-Man.
Affleck expressed a particular fondness for the RTS genre, lamenting its decline in mainstream popularity. "I love 2K, I love Madden. The early Doom—which then gave rise to Quake and gave rise to all that—we played that endlessly," he recalled. "We were doing Good Will Hunting, we were playing Doom… I remember writing and taking these long breaks to play Doom. I can't believe it's been out that long." He added, "sort of gone out of style," a sentiment shared by many fans who remember the genre's heyday.