I'd say he's gaming, or just name the game he's playing. If he's doing 20 minute rounds he's probably playing a shooter or something.
I'm over 30, but saying "video games" makes me think of Mario bros or Sonic.
Also "video games" doesn't seem correct. If they are 20 min rounds he's probably playing online in some battle royal thing. So he's not playing against AI opponents, but other people.
So it's not exactly "video", which in my mind relates better to more classic games that have AI opponents like Mario.
But, yeah. To each their own. To me "video games" just sounds archaic...
"Video" just refers to fact that the hardware generates a video as part of the output, its not referencing AI opponents, that's an interpretation unique to you, as far as I know.
I'm over 30, but saying "video games" makes me think of Mario bros or Sonic.
I would say write it:
"They're gaming. He's texting you in between rounds."
Although "rounds of video games" does sound silly out of context.
So it's not exactly "video", which in my mind relates better to more classic games that have AI opponents like Mario.
But, yeah. To each their own. To me "video games" just sounds archaic...