Rapper Puff Daddy has thrown his weight behind a project to make video gaming a recognised sport in high schools across the US.

The millionaire artist and entrepreneur – who turns 50 this November – is one of the major investors in a $96 million eSports start-up which aims to pave the way for high school gaming in all 50 states.

As well as Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs, PlayVS – led by Delane Parnell – has also had backing from Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin as well as firms such as NEA and Elsyian Park.

Based in Santa Monica, California, Parnell’s company is partnered with the National Federation of State High School Associations and has been working on weaving video gaming into the education system for two years.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Alley, Parnell explained the benefits that gaming could bring to the high school environment.

“Parents actually want their kids to have success in the student environment, and sports and activities have shown evidence of increasing student GPA, student engagement, student attendance,” he said.

“It’s giving kids a structured environment to do the things they love.”

Parnell added that PlayVS has established partnerships with multiple games publishers, enabling them to integrate games into high school sport. PlayVS will make income through a $64 participation fee which is typically paid for by either parents or schools.

“We really believe PlayVS will be not only a generational gaming product, but also a 100 million-plus user subscription business,” he claimed.

Interested in reading more about video games being brought to schools? Discover more about Digital Schoolhouse which is bringing Nintendo games to schools across the UK.