Stranger Things star talks love of gaming
David Harbour, star of the hit science fiction horror series Stranger Things, has talked about his passion for World of Warcraft
GLHF recently got the opportunity to sit down for a chat with David Harbour, and it turns out the Stranger Things actor has a huge penchant for video games, with World of Warcraft in particular a huge part in his life.
Harbour, who portrays the gruff chief of police Jim Hopper in Stranger Things, says that he used to be in a World of Warcraft raiding guild, which he apparently spent a little too much time with at times. In 2008, when working on a movie called Revolutionary Road with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, he would run home on lunch breaks to try and get more raids in.
He says that finding a right balance with gaming can be difficult, and that moderation is really key to avoiding isolation.
“The danger of gaming is isolation,” Harbour said, “I’ve struggled with mental health-type ideas in the past, and I know that being alone for a long time staring at a screen in any capacity will make you not understand human beings in a certain way.”
That said, taking a step back from his gaming habits hasn’t eliminated Harbour’s love for games altogether, in fact if anything he loves them even more, now. A quick look at the star’s Twitter feed reveals that he’s teamed up with Blizzard to promote the new World of Warcraft: Dragonflight expansion, and it’s clear that he’s not just in it for the money.
Harbour says that he loves every part of the World of Warcraft experience, from the silly in-game armour designs to the simple act of pressing a button to activate an ability.
“There are so many things that I find fascinating about WoW, no joke,” Harbour says, “You test out economy, you test out democracy. How do you divvy resources of like, two pieces of boss raid loot among 40 players for one night of raiding? How do you create these governing systems to allocate resources? I think that aspect of it is f***ing fascinating.”
For the most part, Harbour plays games on the road on his Mac, which he says has been his go-to for his whole life. At home, however, he tends to play games in smaller bursts on his PlayStation 5, where lately he’s been playing Gran Turismo, which he says is for research as he works on an upcoming movie based on the series backed by Sony, but also the widely panned Cyberpunk 2077.
“Damn, I know [Cyberpunk 2077] came out and people had problems with it, but that game is so goddamn creative and detailed,” Harbour says, “I think that world is extraordinary. It’s such a sad thing when games come out and they have bugs or problems and everybody goes after them.”
Harbour’s not the only one obsessed with World of Warcraft. The game’s latest expansion has fans buzzing, after the expansion offered players the opportunity to ride on the backs of dragons, although a rocky start to the expansion saw players joking about the day-one server issues.
Players have also been flocking to World of Warcraft after learning of a game trick that can earn Overwatch 2 skins faster.
Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.
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