Ryan George, a 28-year-old gamer from Cardiff, Wales, invited his four friends to his wedding. The twist in the tale? He'd never met them before.
Since he was 11 years old, Ryan had been part of a professional FIFA club online which introduced him to fellow players with a passion for the beautiful simulated game. Of course, while the years marched onwards, their little group got closer as they grew up together and shared life milestones over the Internet. The pandemic also saw their friendships strengthen outside of the video game with group chats and video calls.
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Speaking to the BBC, Ryan thought his wedding to his fiancee Alice would be an ideal opportunity to grab a pint with the guys in real life. "We've grown up with the game so I suppose at heart we still think that we are 17, and playing the same game as we were back then," he said. "Me and the boys aren't really the type to be gaming all the time, we've all got lives outside of Xbox and friends and families so we weren't really looking for friends."
"It didn't feel anxious or awkward because I guess we sort of considered that we knew each other already and had flirted with the idea of meeting up for a while," he continued, saying that the greatest shock when they did meet was how much taller they were.
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While Ryan was adamant that safety was still an important consideration, it's no longer an unconventional way to make friends and even meet life partners. Steven Brown met Shayla Johnson in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and things instantly clicked for the two - they were engaged at the start of last year. Aw.
Topics: FIFA