Deep Rock Galactic Inspires Gamer to Pursue Wild New Career

Summary

Playing Deep Rock Galactic inspired one fan to become an explosive miner.
Three years later, he credits this choice with helping him completely turn his life around.
Becoming a real-life miner also gave the player a deeper understanding of Deep Rock Galactic's inspirations.

One Deep Rock Galactic fan has recently shared an incredible story about how the game has inspired him to pursue a mining career. Years later, the player is still looking fondly at this decision, crediting Deep Rock Galactic for helping him completely transform his life.

Developed by Denmark-based Ghost Ship Games, Deep Rock Galactic is a co-op shooter for up to four players. Since its 2020 release, the game has achieved tremendous success, with PlayTracker and Gamalytic estimating that its lifetime sales on Steam alone are in the ballpark of seven million units as of late 2024.

Among the millions who bought Deep Rock Galactic over the years is Reddit user Bulk-Detonator, also known as Mat. His experience with the game is as unusual as they come, not least because Deep Rock Galactic inspired him to become an actual miner. This happened circa 2021, when Mat says he was at a low point in his life, stuck in a "dead-end job" and suffering from low self-esteem. That's when he discovered Deep Rock Galactic, which served as an escape of sorts. Months later, he came across a job listing for rock drill training and explosive mining, which prompted him to ponder "wouldn't it be funny to do the video game thing IRL," as he recalled in a recent Reddit post. This turned out to be a life-changing decision, which helped him earn more, lose a lot of weight, and be happier overall.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, Mat revealed that his crew's everyday responsibilities come down to drilling dozens or even hundreds of holes throughout quarries, pumping them full of semi-liquid explosives, capping them with stone, and blowing them up once everyone is at a safe distance. The goal is to make gravel by breaking down rock, thus providing materials used for asphalt, concrete, or drainage, among other applications. Mat is currently still a driller trainee, but hopes to be promoted to a full-fledged driller position in the near future. "I just came into this blind, and it ended up not only being a job that has been very good for me, but I'm incredibly passionate about it," he said.

Real-Life Mining Inspired a Lot of Deep Rock Galactic

Mat's new career made him realize that the world of Deep Rock Galactic borrows much more from real-life mining than he originally thought. E.g., the Glyphid Bulk Detonator monster was seemingly named after bulk explosives used in mining. Likewise, spiders predominantly attracted to stone do exist in real life, even though they're nowhere near as big as the monstrosities found throughout Ghost Ship's hit co-op game.

I just came into this blind, and it ended up not only being a job that has been very good for me, but I'm incredibly passionate about it.

As for his gaming habits, Mat still plays DRG whenever he can, estimating he's already logged over 900 hours in the game. While he has extensively played all the classes by now, he gravitates toward Deep Rock Galactic's Driller—a choice that seems like a natural fit for his current profession, which he credits with completely transforming his life.

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 85 /100 Critics Rec: 97%

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Released: May 13, 2020
ESRB: T for Teen due to Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
Developer(s): Ghost Ship Games
Publisher(s): Coffee Stain Publishing
Engine: Unreal Engine 4
Multiplayer: Online Co-Op
Cross-Platform Play: PC, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S

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Deep Rock Galactic is a 1-4 player co-op FPS featuring badass space Dwarves, 100% destructible environments, procedurally-generated caves, and endless hordes of alien monsters.

1-4 PLAYER CO-OP
Work together as a team to dig, explore, and fight your way through a massive cave system filled with hordes of deadly enemies and valuable resources. You will need to rely on your teammates if you want to survive the most hostile cave systems in the galaxy!

4 UNIQUE CLASSES
Pick the right class for the job. Mow through enemies as the Gunner, scout ahead and light up the caves as the Scout, chew through solid rock as the Driller, or support the team with defensive structures and turrets as the Engineer.

FULLY DESTRUCTIBLE ENVIRONMENTS
Destroy everything around you to reach your goal. There is no set path so you can complete your mission your way. Drill straight down to your objective or build an intricate network of paths to explore your surroundings -- the choice is yours. But proceed with caution, you don’t want to stumble into an alien swarm unprepared!

Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One
Genre(s): FPS
X|S Optimized: Yes
File Size Xbox Series: 3 GB (December 2023)
OpenCritic Rating: Mighty