more Virtual Worlds storiesGaming in the U.S.
If you're a video gamer in the U.S, a lot of people want to know more about you. Researchers, software developers, journalists, filmmakers and even your parents, spouse or partner are asking: How often do you play? What device do you use to play? How much money do you spend on games? Shouldn't you prefer reading a book to playing a game?
Everyone's a player
- 99% of boys and 94% of girls play video games
- 65% of daily gamers are male and 35% female
- The average gamer is 35 years old (25% are under 18; 49% fall in the 18- to 49-year-old category; and 26% are 50 and older)
- 76% of students, but only 49% of non-students, report playing games
- 53% of American adults age 18 and older play video games -- about one in five adults
- Over one-third (36%) of gamers 65 and older say they play games every day or almost every day, compared with 19% of adults aged 50 to 64, 20% of adults aged 30 to 49, and 20% of adults aged 18 to 29. Senior gamers may play more frequently because they have more time to play than younger gamers, as 77% of senior gamers reported being retired
Home alone?
- 59% of gamers play games with other gamers in person (up from 51% in 2006)
- 24% of teens only play games alone, and the remaining three-quarters play games with others at least some of the time
- 47% of teens play online games with people they know in their offline lives; 27% of teens play online games with people they first met online; 23% of teens play with both
- 65% of game playing teens play with other people who are in the room with them; 27% play games with people who they connect with through the Internet; 82% play games alone
Resources
- Teens, Video Games and Civics report by the The Pew Internet & American Life Project
- Adults and Video Games report by the The Pew Internet & American Life Project
- The Entertainment Software Association's 2008 Sales, Demographic and Usage Data: Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry [PDF]
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