For the longest time, the term ‘gamer’ meant a pretty rigid, specific thing: likely a young person who probably stays up way too late gaming the night away. The thing is, though, that this has changed a lot.
How is it different, exactly? Not to worry, because in this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about why the typical gamer isn’t who you think anymore
Gamers Changing Demographics
It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that most gamers are young men, but that really isn’t the case anymore and hasn’t been for some time.
ExpressVPN's recent study shows that the ‘gamer’ demographic has evolved significantly. The study found that gamers in their 30s and 40s were more likely to play games every day compared to gamers in their 20s. Moreover, 68% of gamers in their 30s and 40s reported playing games daily, while only 58% of gamers in their 20s reported playing games daily.
If you play games a lot yourself, you probably already know that the general assumption is that the younger you are, the more likely you are to spend lots of time playing a particular game. However, based on the data, this may well not be the case.
Why are older gamers more likely to spend their time gaming? Of course, it’s tough to say, but if you’ve been gaming your whole life and you had a chance to watch games grow from the simplistic 2D things they once were to what they are today, well, there’s a good chance you have a lot more attachment to the medium than younger kids today do.
Older People Spend More Time and Money Gaming
The study also found that it’s not Gen Z that’s spending the most time and money gaming, either. Once again, that looks to be the domain of Millennials.
It’s tempting to think that younger people are spending all their cash on V-Bucks for the coolest skins or doing crazy multi-day gaming binges every weekend, but that just isn't the case. According to the study, Millennial gamers are more likely to spend over 12 hours a week playing games compared to the 16 to 25 demographic.
Millennials are also more willing to spend serious cash on games. Of course, younger people tend to have less money on hand, sure. Still, of the people surveyed, a third of Millennials reported being ready to spend $50 to $100 on a single purchase, while one in five of those surveyed had no issue spending over $100 on a gaming purchase.
Add that up together, and you paint a picture of slightly older gamers taking the hobby more seriously both in terms of playtime as well as monetary investment. Once again, it’s tough to say why exactly this is the case, but for a younger generation that’s always grown up with games on their phones and tablets, it may well be that they simply look at games as a fun pastime, while older gamers may view games as more of a form of escapism.
What are women playing?
The split between male and female gamers changes depending on what subset of the gaming community you’re looking at, but women are playing more and more games every year.
According to the study, the most popular game among women was Call of Duty, with 46% of the women surveyed playing Activision’s first-person shooter. This goes to show that the most popular games are big with both men and women.
In almost every way, the average gamer just isn’t who you might think they are.
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