Catholic Gamer Builds Brotherhood in the Digital Arena
How Alex Pacheco’s Intercession Gaming turned online play into a place of faith, formation, and real connection for young men
When Alex Pacheco logged on to play video games with his kids, he wasn’t trying to start a ministry. He was just being a dad.
What emerged during the COVID‑19 pandemic, however, became something much bigger: a growing digital community where young men found friendship, accountability, and a surprising path toward faith.
Pacheco, known online as “the Catholic Gamer,” is the founder of Intercession Gaming, a platform that blends online gameplay with moderated community, Scripture‑based challenges, and what he describes as a modern digital mission field.
“I was playing video games with my kids as a way to build relationship,” Pacheco said on Heroic Hotline. “There are good benefits to gaming, and there are cons. We were trying to show them how to use it well.”
From Family Game Night to Global Discord
As the pandemic locked families indoors, Pacheco and his children began playing online with “randoms” — strangers matched together on gaming servers.
“You’re working as a team with complete strangers,” he said. “You’re tracking toward a goal — victory, last man standing — and you’re talking the whole time.”
Those conversations led to the creation of a Discord server, an online hub where gamers could keep playing and talking between matches.
“It went from a couple of kids playing with us to eventually building a Discord community,” Pacheco said. “People kept asking me, ‘Are you a YouTuber? Are you a content creator?’ And I kept saying no.”
What formed was an organic, welcoming space — mostly young men — who began opening up about their lives.
“They were looking for someone to talk to,” he said. “Sometimes it was about something in the community. Sometimes it was personal.”
Years later, those bonds still remain.
“Just this past week, people we gamed with in 2020 reached out,” Pacheco said. “It’s been years, but the impact stayed.”
Why Young Men Open Up Online
Pacheco says the digital space isn’t a barrier for Gen Z and Gen Alpha — it’s their native language.
“This generation doesn’t know a life without the internet,” he said. “Their communication is different than baby boomers, Gen X, even millennials.”
In classrooms and church settings, he saw silence.
“I taught CCD,” he said. “You ask questions, and you get nothing. No engagement.”
Online, it was the opposite.
“They open up more online than they would in person,” he said. “Especially with voice chat. You hear tone. You hear emotion. You hear when something’s wrong.”
While critics often reduce gaming to isolation, Pacheco says research — and experience — shows otherwise.
“They were still collaborating, still building relationships,” he said. “Just in a digital space.”
Moderation, Not Isolation
Central to Intercession Gaming is active moderation.
“Conflict reduces in any community,” Pacheco said. “What matters is how you navigate it.”
Rather than shutting conversations down, moderators step in to guide them.
“We let things play out enough to understand what’s happening,” he said. “Then we slow it down. Everyone speaks. We problem‑solve together.”
That approach, first developed in Pacheco’s secular gaming program called Patch Squad, produced noticeable results.
“Parents told me, ‘My kid doesn’t throw tantrums anymore,’” he said. “They handle ‘no’ better. They process failure differently.”
Loss, Pacheco insists, is part of the lesson.
“We don’t edit out the losses,” he said. “We record live. Failure becomes the teaching moment.”
Heroes, Risk, and Masculinity
Pacheco believes gaming taps into something ancient.
“Young men want to be heroes,” he said. “That’s why we step into games — to be the one who makes the call, who sacrifices for the team.”
He sees that instinct as God‑given, not dangerous.
“The world says masculinity is toxic,” he said. “But masculinity is a gift that needs to be tempered by virtue.”
Gaming, he argues, offers risk, competition, and consequence — without the false comfort of participation trophies.
“Esports doesn’t give you a trophy if you’re not good enough,” he said. “You have to grind. You have to get better.”
Those dynamics mirror real life.
“Not everything is about winning,” Pacheco said. “It’s about learning, adapting, and growing.”
The Digital Areopagus
Pacheco describes his mission using a biblical image.
“St. Paul went to the Areopagus — the public square — to debate ideas,” he said. “Today, the digital space is the Areopagus.”
Intercession Gaming intentionally brings faith into that space, drawing from Scripture, Church teaching, and philosophy.
“We take the daily Gospel readings and turn them into in‑game challenges,” he said. “The same way we struggle in the game is the way we struggle in life.”
The content avoids preaching.
“We don’t want to be in your face,” Pacheco said. “We want to lead people into relationship.”
Those who want to go deeper can.
“It’s almost like an online OCIA,” he said. “But through gameplay.”
Creating Space Where None Existed
For Pacheco, the work began with a simple observation.
“Every time we searched for gaming and faith, all we saw was negativity,” he said. “Gaming is evil. Gaming is bad.”
That left young men with a false choice.
“This is what I enjoy,” he said, echoing what he hears from them. “But there’s nothing for me if I want to grow closer to God.”
Intercession Gaming exists to close that gap.
“We’re using the tools God gave us,” Pacheco said. “To bring people closer to Christ — right where they already are.”
Looking Ahead
As ministries search for new ways to reach young men, Pacheco believes the mission field is already open.
“We can’t ignore these spaces,” he said. “That’s where the conversations are happening.”
Intercession Gaming can be found online at intercessiongaming.com, where participants can join the community, subscribe for updates, and follow ongoing content.
For Pacheco, it all comes back to relationship.
“That’s what they were looking for,” he said. “And that’s what they found.”