Video games used to be a simple pastime, mostly aimed at children. Things have changed, though, and today’s video games are predominantly played by adults. Moreover, many games are now R-rated, and playing video games has even turned into a profession. Some people stream on platforms like Twitch, while others create video game-based content for YouTube. One also shouldn’t neglect the influence of esports, an industry currently worth almost $1 billion.
To figure out how many people play video games and just how big of a phenomenon this really is, let’s look at some relevant facts about gamers.
How Many People Play Video Games in the World?
This question isn’t that easy to answer. Firstly, the difference between a casual gamer and a committed gamer is significant. Secondly, defining a gamer is difficult to begin with. Here are some frequently asked questions that may help shed more light on this matter.
1. How many people play video games in the US?
(Entertainment Software Association)
According to video game statistics, 214.4 million people played video games in the US in 2020. Of that, 163.3 million are adults (64% of all adults), and 51.1 million are young people under 18 (80% of their entire age group). 75% of all households in the US have at least one gamer under their roof. As for the gender structure of gamer demographics, 59% are men and 41% women.
2. How many people play violent video games?
(Healthline)
The exact numbers are impossible to come by, but one of the more shocking gaming facts is that about 90% of popular games portray some form of violence. A few long-term studies have found a link between video game violence and real-life violence, but researchers still disagree on this issue. While some believe that violent video games can result in aggressive behavior, others see them as a great tool for learning about teamwork, cooperation, and even empathy.
3. How many hours do people play video games?
(Limelight)
Recent gaming statistics reveal that video gamers spend an average of 6 hours and 20 minutes every week playing video games. Some think of this finding as encouraging, seeing as this number is 11% lower than a year before. However, others worry that casual gamers may be driving down the average time spent playing video games. Many teens and professional gamers spend most of their waking hours playing, so this number might not be entirely accurate.
4. How many people play sports video games?
(Statista)
According to a 2018 survey, about 11.1% of all video games sold in the US were sports games. While this number is relatively low, it doesn’t mean that profit margins are low, too. In fact, sports games are plagued by microtransactions, a feature that allows players to get expansions and access to top-quality teams by making in-game purchases. Video game companies generate a lot of revenue this way, which helps them cover the high licensing costs of sports games.
5. How many people play video games online?
(BroadbandSearch)
The number of people who play video games online is unknown, but statistics show that 56% of avid gamers spend at least 7 hours per week playing multiplayer online games. As for consoles with online connectivity, there are about 34.2 million PlayStation Plus and about 59 million Xbox Live users worldwide. Still, video game player statistics reveal that the majority of gamers (41%) prefer PCs to any other gaming platform, including consoles (36%) and smartphones (36%).
6. How many people play video games every day?
(Limelight)
No research has answered this question yet. However, 2018 statistics on video gamers reveal a fascinating finding. Namely, 13% of US gamers with day jobs say they play games every single day during their working hours, while another 17.9% say they do it at least once a week. In both cases, that’s much higher than the global averages, which stand at 9.5% and 13%, respectively.
7. How many video games are there?
(Gaming Shift)
The total number is growing daily, but combined video game industry statistics show there are close to 1.2 million games across all currently used platforms. Massive platforms like Steam have tens of thousands of games, but that’s nothing compared to mobile games. While Steam has 33,554 games, Google Play has 327,491 and the App Store 811,911. As a rule, mobile games are easier to develop and have a much broader appeal, which explains these numbers.
8. How many kids play video games?
(Healthline)
Statistics about video games suggest that 91% of all US children play video games. Still, some surveys claim that the number could be as high as 94% for girls and 99% for boys. A major problem in determining the exact number of kids playing video games is that many of them use fake dates of birth to access online games they wouldn’t legally be allowed to play otherwise.
9. How popular are video games?
(Statista)
Video games are currently at the peak of their popularity. The number of gamers in the world reached 2.7 billion in 2020, which is about one-third of humankind. In more developed regions, this number reaches two-thirds or even three-quarters of the population. Gaming companies are being bought for billions of dollars, and video game streams are getting more and more viewers. As people lose interest in sports as entertainment, video games may be able to fill this gap.
10. What percentage of people play video games?
(Statista)
Regardless of people’s opinions on the subject, gaming demographics are quite fascinating. In the United States, about 66% of people said they played video games in 2018. This accounts for roughly two-thirds of the total population and marks an 8% increase in the five-year period since 2013. Looking at global gamer demographics, an estimated 34.6% of all people play video games in one form or another.
11. How many gamers are there in the world in 2021?
(Statista, FinancesOnline)
As stated before, there were 2.7 billion gamers in the world in 2020. Expectations show that this figure will reach 2.81 billion in 2021. However, there’s a major discrepancy in the number of gamers in different regions. As the world’s most populated area, the Asia Pacific region has a surprisingly large number of gamers – 1.5 billion. European video games statistics show that the continent has about 465.8 million gamers across all platforms.
12. How many gamers in the US?
(Statista, Entertainment Software Association)
There are about 214 million gamers in the US, as already mentioned. 163.3 million of them are adults, representing 77.8% of the 210 million adult gamers in the whole of North America in 2020. This is hardly a surprise, seeing as the US is the most populous country in the region.
13. What is the average age of a gamer?
(Statista)
According to 2020 statistics, the average age of US gamers is 35. Looking at individual age groups, we can see that most gamers (38%) are aged 18–34. 26% of US gamers are in the 34–54 age group, and 21% are under 18. Older people also enjoy playing video games, with 9% of all American gamers falling into the 55–64 group, and another 6% aged 65 and over.
Conclusion
The growing popularity of video games could reshape our understanding of entertainment in the 21st century, and these statistics on video games speak in favor of that. Sure, there are some reasons for concern, ranging from the time lost on this pastime to the possible effects of violent video games on young children. But although they’ve been around for a while, video games are still a relatively new phenomenon, so we may need more time to fully understand their impact.
Sources:
- Statista
- Entertainment Software Association
- Healthline
- Limelight
- Limelight
- Statista
- BroadbandSearch
- Gaming Shift
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- FinancesOnline
