Surprising Facts/Statistics About Video Gamers

[MoonMetropolis]

I know this is old news, but many of you probably missed it the first time around.  In 2010, the Entertainment Software Association compiled a large list of data and statistics regarding the industry.

http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_Essential_Facts_2010.PDF

Here are some surprising facts this study revealed:

1. 67% of American households play computer or video games.

2. The average game player is 34 years old.

3. 25% of gamers are under 18 years old, 49% are 18 - 49 years old, and 26% are 50+ years old.

4. 60% of gamers are male and 40% are female.

5. Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33%) than boys age 17 or younger (20%).

6. The average age of the most frequent game purchaser is 40 years old.

7. Of game purchasers, 54% are male and 46% are female.

8. 12 is the average number of years adult gamers have been playing computer or video games.

9. Among most frequent gamers, males average 13 years of game playing and females average 10 years.

10. 64% of gamers play games with other gamers in person.  This is an increase from 62% in 2009 and from 59% in 2008.

11. 67% of homes in America own either a console and/or PC used to run entertainment software.

12. 93% of the time, parents are present at the time games are purchased or rented.

13. 64% of parents believe games are a positive part of their children’s lives.

14. 86% of the time, children receive their parents’ permission before purchasing or renting a game.

15. 48% of parents play computer and video games with their children at least weekly.

16. Parents report always or sometimes monitoring the games their children play 97% of the time.

17. 76% of parents believe that the parental controls available in all new video game consoles are useful. Further, parents impose time usage limits on video games more than any other form of entertainment:

83% of parents place time limits on video game playing

78% of parents place time limits on television viewing

75% of parents place time limits on Internet usage

66% of parents place time limits on movie viewing

18. The top 4 reasons parents play video games with their children:

1.) It’s fun for the entire family: 87%

2.) Because they’re asked to: 83%

3.) It’s a good opportunity to socialize with the child: 75%

4.) It’s a good opportunity to monitor game content: 60%

19. 58% of online game players are male.

20. 42% of online game players are female.

21. 17% of most frequent gamers pay to play online games.

22. 42% of heads of households report they play games on wireless devices such as a cell phone or PDA, up from 20% in 2002.

23. 41% of Americans have purchased or plan to purchase one or more games in 2010.

The page also has lots of charts and graphs that couldn't be posted here.

Are you surprised by these facts?  What are your thoughts?  I found that it shattered a lot of stereotypes regarding gamers being exclusively young males and parents not caring what their kids play.

[Leo1]

Are you surprised by these facts?  What are your thoughts?  I found that it shattered a lot of stereotypes regarding gamers being exclusively young males and parents not caring what their kids play.

Not reallyTheir classification for a gamer is anyone that plays any sort of a videogame (Such as solitaire on their PC). So it doesn't shatter my impression, for example, of the typical Playstation 3 owner (Males in their 20's). It just reminds me that video gaming is a very broad hobby that goes far beyond the areas I personally am participating in, or beyond the areas a site like IGN focuses on, etc.And there have been some significant shifts in this from more recent information the ESA has released (This report you put up is well over a year old and deals with 2009 stats, they released their report that deals with 2010 statistics a while back). For instance, they now say that 72% of American households play games and that the average age of a video game player is 37.

[N64Dude1]

Mostly the age of the average gamer,and I could've sworn adolescent guys took up more of the gaming population than young adult women.The rest,....not so much

[MoonMetropolis]

Are you surprised by these facts?  What are your thoughts?  I found that it shattered a lot of stereotypes regarding gamers being exclusively young males and parents not caring what their kids play.

Not really Their classification for a gamer is anyone that plays any sort of a videogame (Such as solitaire on their PC). So it doesn't shatter my impression, for example, of the typical Playstation 3 owner (Males in their 20's). It just reminds me that video gaming is a very broad hobby that goes far beyond the areas I personally am participating in, or beyond the areas a site like IGN focuses on, etc.And there have been some significant shifts in this from more recent information the ESA has released (This report you put up is well over a year old and deals with 2009 stats, they released their report that deals with 2010 statistics a while back). For instance, they now say that 72% of American households play games and that the average age of a video game player is 37.

I really doubt too many of these "gamers" only play Solitaire on their computer.  The study was pretty specific.I don't really see what your point is about the statistics changing.  Statistics change.  It's not like they were altered drastically.  I don't know about you, but I think the ESA is pretty credible when it comes to video game stats.  Certainly more so than IGN or GameSpot.Also, does anyone recall another study that said the average gamer was 35 and depressed?  I remember it stirring up some pretty heated debate.

[Adamant1]

I really doubt too many of these "gamers" only play Solitaire on their computer.  The study was pretty specific.

I can't find anything there about how the questions were worded. What makes you so sure people who play the odd game of solitaire won't answer "yes" to a "do you play video games" question?

[Leo1]

The ESA makes it very clear that their classification of a gamer is extremely broad. I'm not sure why some console gamers want to twist this around to say something it isn't saying (Noticed it on another forum recently when their most recent annual report was released).

The average age of a console gamer on a system like the Xbox 360 isn't pushing 40 and isn't nearly half female, that should be obvious to you. They're including things like Pogo.com users and the ESA is very open about that. They're not examining a smaller subsection of videogaming here, they're trying to take a general look at the entire hobby and that hobby extends far beyond game consoles, dedicated gaming handhelds, and PC games that require a expensive graphics card to perform well.

There are millions of gamers out there that don't play what we view as traditional videogames.And if these stats are interesting like you thought they were, I just thought it was worthwhile to point out that there have been some significant shifts just since that report was released (A 5% increase in just 12 months of households that play videogames, for example, is a significant increase). That was "my point" and I wasn't trying to do anything like discredit the ESA. I see no reason not to believe their stats since it largely reflects what I've experienced in real life.

[MoonMetropolis]

It goes into details about game PURCHASERS, people who have been playing games for years, and people who own consoles.  That's not exactly "playing Solitaire on the computer".

[VideoGameCritic]

As I've gotten older I've learned to view these studies with skepticism.  There is always some kind of underlying agenda. 

As Leo said, this is basically lumping together everyone who's ever played any kind of video game.  Video games are ubiquitous, and the on-line stuff is just further watering down the results.   Everybody who has a cell phone has one or two, and people on Facebook have that farm "game".  Hell, my wife would probably qualify in this survey and she really couldn't care less about video games.

The whole women thing really cracks me up.  There were similar finding (over 40% gamers are women) in a study 10 years ago.  Yet, when you look around, how many women in your life are running over to Best Buy to pick up the latest title?  How many are discussing games over the phone with their friends?  But the industry is dying to get women involved because they know that's a huge source of money they have yet to tap into.  So they put out these fishy studies in an attempt to change the whole perception.

[Leo1]

It goes into details about game PURCHASERS, people who have been playing games for years, and people who own consoles.  That's not exactly "playing Solitaire on the computer".

I don't even really know what point you're trying to get across here. But I assume you're trying to tell us that the ESA survey doesn't include the masses of casual gamers out there that do things like play Angry Birds on their iPhone. And that isn't the case if you do some digging.

ESA's annual statistics survey overview includes the masses of individuals like the parents of many of the forum users here, individuals who can often count with their fingers the number of minutes they've ever held a game controller. I know my mother in her 50's and my father in his 60's, for instance, are routinely playing things on their PC's like solitaire, hidden object style games, Battleship on Pogo.com, Facebook games, etc.

Their total time spent with a game controller includes a couple of minutes with River Raid on the 2600 decades ago and a couple of minutes behind the wheel of my PC sim racing setup nearly a decade ago. Yet they're counted by the ESA just like I am in my late 20's for playing games on traditional game consoles, traditional gaming handhelds, and simulations on my PC.This survey isn't just about remaining PS2/Xbox/GCN owners, PS3/360/Wii owners, PSP/3DS/DS owners, and owners of PC gaming rigs. It's a general overview of the entire gaming audience and this hobby goes far beyond individuals like ourselves.

[MoonMetropolis]

The whole women thing really cracks me up.  There were similar finding (over 40% gamers are women) in a study 10 years ago.  Yet, when you look around, how many women in your life are running over to Best Buy to pick up the latest title?  How many are discussing games over the phone with their friends?  But the industry is dying to get women involved because they know that's a huge source of money they have yet to tap into.  So they put out these fishy studies in an attempt to change the whole perception.

Pretty much the same amount as men.  In fact, pretty much everyone I know - male or female - plays video games.  Studies only confirm it.

I don't even really know what point you're trying to get across here.

I'm pointing out that someone who merely plays Angry Birds on their iPhone would not count as someone who buys games regularly, or someone who has been playing games for over a decade.