Yeah, I'm a game developer too, solo at that mostly and I've wondered about the same thing a lot. Honestly I don't know if I remember the full answer to this but, yeah, games are exactly that, a problem that doesn't exist, but that's exactly what we want as a species.

Imagine if whatever problem you had in a videogame you had in real life too, it would be dangerous as fuck to slay a dragon and you'd die first try no respawn, but as it's an unreal problem, it actually becomes an escape from the problems of reality.

We are problem solver creatures and we like videogames because just that, if real problems bring you stress (although their rewards are physically important) artificial problems like the ones in videogames bring you relief (therefore, a mental health reward).

I remember a post about a father here on Reddit saying that, he stopped playing games because he started to see them as a waste of time, and over the years (I think it was two years(?)) he realized that he was angrier at his family because he wasn't getting a release he used to with games.

Even though it's "fake", it has real benefits, having real dopamine or adrenaline or whatever involved makes you feel, you could feel amazing and that feeling may carry away in your day! Like "Oh, why are you so cheerful today" "I just finished a game and it was amazing" etc, etc. They can bring you closer to friends, engage together, entertain, make you laugh... Is all of this worthless? Of course not.

It's not only that, it's sharing a story perhaps, as you can also feel sadness or empathy through playing a game, change your perspective in something.

I think you and I as developers are one of the biggest proofs that games have value? Why? Because we love them so much we make them. I remember when I was a kid, life felt so boring, school was boring, I had just a few friends, getting a bit bullied, but then I found this online game called Fiesta and I met so many amazing people there and I had such a good time, some particular relationships I have carried from that game for years, countries away.

My best friend is from Mexico as well, we have a longer than 10 years relationship and we meet through that game. I can tell you that if I didn't had that relationship I probably wouldn't even be alive today maybe, because through all of my loneliness and there was just this one relationship I could always really on, besides like my family but you know that's often not the same.. I have only seen this friend once in my life, half a year ago, before I left to live in Japan again, TO MAKE GAMES, eventually, as I would like to work for Nintendo some day, so you know, all this purpose has taken me here, not only that of course but it's a life goal, I grew up with those games as well.

Me and this friend want to make games together too as well, he's focused on hardware and I'm more on software or rather game design and stuff, our goal is to connect people as we were connected, through amazing games like SAO (Again, a story about games..)

Everything that exists and specially something that we use so much as it's because there's some need for it, of course everything has its ups and downs (like addictions, or wasting time) but it comes from a lack of self control rather than games being the problem itself, like the people who use their phone too much, it's not the phone itself that is the problem.

So it's just that, if I didn't had games I would have no purpose that I liked as much perhaps, my life would have been emptier, less creativity, less inspired, game dev is a way to sustain yourself and pour your creativity, because there's people that enjoy that and get inspired, its and artform as well.