Most people still think of boys and teens when they hear about gamers. However, gaming is no longer exclusively a male-dominated industry.
Read on if you’re curious about the shifting gaming demographics and the latest industry developments.
Top 10 Gamer Demographics Stats
- The number of people who play video games worldwide is 3.24 billion.
- 76% of gamers in the US are over 18, video gaming demographics show.
- The average age of video game players is around 35 years.
- 61% of adult US players play games on their mobile phones.
- Regarding US gamer demographics and gender, 48% of US gamers identify as female in 2022.
- Playstation demographics show that 41% of PlayStation 4 and 5 owners are women.
- According to the statistics on video gamers, 80% of US men gamers aged 18-34 prefer shooter games.
- According to 2022 video game player demographics, 71% of American gamers are white.
- Female gamer statistics for 2019 reveal that female gamers make up 38% of Asia’s total gamer population.
- China has the most gamers of all countries, with an estimated 742.19 million in 2022.
General Video Gamers’ Demographics
The gaming community is becoming a diverse group in terms of age, with increasing numbers of younger and older players alike. The shifting demographics have resulted in some surprising stats. Read on if you’d like to learn more.
1. The number of people who play video games worldwide is 3.24 billion.
(Statista)
The gaming world is ever-growing. The gamer demographics for 2021 show that over 40% of the global population are gamers. Most of the world’s gamers come from Asia – 1.48 billion.
The growth is visible compared to 2020, when the world had an estimated 3.1 billion gamers.
2. 76% of gamers in the US are over 18, video gaming demographics show.
(Entertainment Software Association)
Although gaming is still mostly associated with kids, the average age of gamers is constantly changing. Gaming demographics for 2022 show that the largest group of gamers are, in fact, adults.
Only 24% of gamers in the US are under 18. The largest group are people aged 18 to 34, with 36%. The smallest group are gamers over 65, with 6%.
3. The average age of video game players is around 35 years.
(GameSparks, VentureBeat)
The gamer age statistics worldwide show that the gaming world is changing all the time.
With the growth of the mobile industry, people of all ages are enjoying games. The average age of gamers worldwide is now somewhere between 35 and 44.
4. Video gaming demographics for 2022 show that 70% of adult US players play games on their smartphones.
(Entertainment Software Association)
Due to mobile games’ growing popularity and availability, smartphones are the most used devices for playing video games. Game consoles come second, with 52%, while 43% of gamers play on their PCs.
5. Nearly 79% of all Internet users regularly engage in gaming activities, demonstrating that gaming is one of the most popular forms of entertainment.
(Newzoo)
Gamers are an appealing demographic for brands with the right message, as players have a 36% more positive outlook on brands than non-players.
There is more to gaming than just playing: Trends in the metaverse and in-game socialization have accelerated and skyrocketed.
Gaming Demographics Gender Stats
Gender is one of the demographic aspects that has changed the most in the past decade. Women are starting to dominate the world of gaming, and there’s no stopping them.
Read on to learn more about gender in gaming.
6. Regarding US gamer demographics and gender, 48% of US gamers identify as female in 2022.
(Entertainment Software Association)
Until recently, the ratio of male to female gamers was perceived to be in favor of men. But, the statistics show that the difference is not that big.
Female gamers have consistently hovered around 40% since 2008. But over the past decade, women’s share of the gaming population has grown to nearly half.
7. Playstation demographics show that 41% of PlayStation 4 and 5 owners are women.
(Push Square, Sony)
PlayStation is the most famous console in the world. Sony announced in 2022 that, since its release, the PlayStation 5 has been sold in over 21.7 million units globally, while the PlayStation 2 remains Sony’s best-selling console of all time.
PlayStation video gamer demographics show that 59% of all PlayStation 4 and 5 owners are men. The percentage of women owners is increasing and is much higher than it was for PlayStation 1 – only 18%.
8. Video game gender statistics show that 61% of regular console gamers are men.
(Statista)
Even though women are buying more consoles than ever, men still seem slightly more interested in them. Video game demographics and gender studies on consoles show that women do play games on consoles, just do it less regularly than men.
So, what percent of console gamers are female? Only 39% of regular console gamers are women.
9. In 2020, 96% of boys and 76% of girls played games regularly.
(National Center for Biotechnology Information)
In 2020, a Norwegian study looked into gamer numbers in the 9-18 age group. The results showed that 96% of boys identified as gamers, compared to 76% of girls.
Only two years earlier, the percentage of boys was the same, while only 63% of girls identified as gamers.
10. According to the statistics on video gamers, 80% of US men gamers aged 18-34 prefer shooter games.
(Entertainment Software Association)
Men from this age group prefer shooter games, while women prefer family games.
The facts about gamers show that this age group is why games such as Call of Duty earn almost $2 billion per year, and Mario games are still trendy.
11. In a survey of gamers around the world conducted in 2021, 10.9% of women and 11.9% of men reported playing video games for more than 20 hours per week.
(Statista)
According to this survey, a total of 8.45 hours per week was devoted to gaming on average.
12. Rakuten Insight’s survey conducted in South Korea in 2022 found that 36% of male respondents preferred role-playing games (RPGs, MMOs, MMORPGs) over any other type of online game.
(Statista)
Meanwhile, one-third of female respondents said that casual games like Tetris were their favorite type.
Video Gamers Demographics by Race and Country
You have come to the right place if you have ever pondered such questions as which races engage in video gaming at a higher rate or which countries produce the most skilled gamers.
13. In the United States, 215.5 million people of all ages regularly engage in video gaming.
(Entertainment Software Association)
The US is one of the countries with the highest video game revenues and the highest number of gamers. Statistics for 2021 show that almost 70% of the population plays video games.
This was nearly 6% more than in 2020, when the number was 214.4 million, and 28% more than in 2019, when the US had 164 million gamers.
14. Female gamer statistics for 2019 reveal that female gamers make up 38% of Asia’s total gamer population.
(Asia Sports Tech, Niko Partners)
An estimated 494 million women play video games across major Asian countries – 308 million reside in China, 100 million in Southeast Asia, 54 million in India, 18.4 million in Japan, and 13.6 million in South Korea.
Female gamers saw a year-on-year increase of 14.8%, which was significantly higher than the yearly increase of 7.8% registered in the general population. This explains why high female representation is becoming a dominant factor in the Asian esports scene’s growth.
15. The eSports market in China is the largest in the world, with 434 million devoted fans.
(Niko Partners)
China’s mobile gaming market is worth one-third of the global total and is expected to continue growing, warranting the attention of game developers everywhere.
16. In 2021, there were nearly 1.8 billion mobile gamers; by 2027, that figure is expected to rise to over 1.85 billion.
(Statista)
Revenue from smartphone games is expected to reach $91.4 billion in 2022, representing 45% of the total gaming market. With global revenue of $58.6 billion, console games came in at number two.
Furthermore, research shows that women account for the majority of mobile gamers, with 63% of mobile gamers being female.
17. According to the 2022 video game player demographics, 71% of American gamers are white.
(Entertainment Software Association)
The second-largest ethnic group, with 10%, are Hispanic, 8% are African American, 7% are Asian or Pacific Islanders, and 3% are other ethnicities.
It may seem like a small percentage of the population, but the share of non-white gamers is in fact on the rise.
18. According to video game demographics, 73% of African Americans aged 13 and older play video games.
(Nielsen)
If you look at the general population of the US, 66% are gamers.
19. China has the most gamers of all countries, with an estimated 742.2 million in 2022.
(Newzoo)
Statistics from 2022 show that China has the largest gamer population in the world. This is not a surprise since China has the largest population in general and one of the largest gaming industries.
However, it’s yet to be seen how the demographic of gamers in China will change – and how Chinese gamers and the industry will be affected by the Chinese restrictions on underage gamers, which went into effect in 2021.
20. The United Arab Emirates has the world’s highest per-capita rate of adult gamers, according to the Statista Global Consumer Survey.
(Statista)
In 2022, 91% of people in the UAE said they played video games at least occasionally, with many being avid mobile gaming fans. Smartphone gaming is a rapidly expanding industry because it attracts new players by being accessible on the go and costing very little to get started.
Developing countries like Nigeria, Indonesia, and China also have many adult gamers.
Conclusion
Our gamer demographics for 2022 may surprise you if you have never read about the gender and age gaps in the video game industry. It turns out that not only do older audiences enjoy playing video games but so do women, who are underrepresented in the gaming community.
We can conclude that as new trends emerge, there will undoubtedly be a game for people of all ages and groups.
FAQ
What is the current audience demographic for video games?
According to the Entertainment Software Association, gaming is most popular among the 18-34 age group in the United States, accounting for 36%. At the same time, 24% of gamers are under the age of 18, while 13% are aged between 35 and 44.
What is the average age of a gamer?
As of 2021, the typical gamer is around 35 years old. Many modern gamers have been playing games for decades, so the idea that gaming is something only kids do is outdated.
What race are most gamers?
We can safely say that Asians constitute the vast majority of gamers worldwide. They dominate the gaming market with 1.48 billion players.
The demographics of video game players on other continents may differ. For instance, 71% of gamers in the United States are white, while those of other ethnicities account for 29%.
What country has the most gamers?
With over 742 million gamers, China leads the list of most gamers per country.
According to Newzoo, gamer demographics show that the United States is the second most populous country in terms of gamer numbers, with Japan close behind.
What is the percentage of female gamers?
When we look at gamers by gender, 48% of them are women in the United States, with a similar percentage of women globally. This means that most players are still men, but the numbers are shifting globally, with women participating in gaming and being represented more.
