Video games aren’t just for kids.
New data from the Entertainment Software Association, the trade group of the video game industry, shows that the number of people over the age of 45 who are playing games is roughly the same as the number of minors doing so.
All totaled, the ESA reports, 65% of Americans play video games today, roughly 212.6 million players per week. Of those, 26% are under the age of 18, while 25% are over the age of 45. Perhaps even more curious…the percentage of players 55 and older is higher than that between the ages of 45 and 55.
Nearly one-third of people over the age of 65, in fact, said they play games regularly.
“Video games remain a mainstay in American households, as they have for decades,” said Stanley Pierre-Louis, president and CEO of the ESA in a statement. “Playing video games has become the norm, as those who first learned to play on early consoles now share their joy of play with their own children and grandchildren.”
The ESA has been tracking gaming demographics since at least 2004. (This year’s study gathered data from approximately 4,000 Americans about their video game playing habits.) In that report, just 17% of all players were over the age of 50, highlighting the spread of gaming in pop culture, in large part owing to the spread of mobile devices.
Indeed, smartphones and other mobile devices are preferred by gamers today, with 64% using them to play, the ESA reports. Consoles, such as Sony’s PlayStation or the Nintendo Switch, were the second most popular platform, with 54% of players using them. (Virtual reality headsets still lag behind, with just 10% of players saying they use them.)
The average gamer, the ESA says, is 32 years old now—and has been playing video games for 21 years. Among adults, puzzle and arcade games are the most played. And 75% of players say they spend at least four hours a week playing games.
