It’s no longer younger people who are the most enthusiastic video game players but those aged between 27 and 42.
The old stereotype of all gamers being angst-ridden teens is no longer commonplace, but video games are still viewed as primarily being an interest for younger people, but a new study has proven that’s not really the case.
According to the new data it’s 27- to 42-year-olds – Millennials in other words – that spend the most time playing games every week, not Generation Z.
Gen Z (11- to 26-year-olds) is playing more games than they did last year but apparently ‘older generations of players are spending more hours per week gaming.’
According to the information collected from Fandom.com – which you’d think would skew younger anyway – 52% of surveyed Millennials said video games were their favourite hobby and that they spend over 22 hours a week playing games. By comparison, only 29% of tweens said the same.
That immediately explains why publishers keep bringing back so many old franchises but apparently millennials are even better customers than it sounds, as they’re 24% more likely to be ‘heavily influenced’ to buy games and brands associated with games than other ages. In other words, they like merch and they’re happy to spend money on it.
Gen Z may eventually catch up though, as while 45% of all gamers are spending more time playing than they did last year it was younger gamers that saw the most growth. Although all that seems to mean is that by the time they’re in their late twenties they’ll be just as keen as millennials are right now.
The survey is a slightly odd one, as it seems to be aimed more at helping advertisers and streamers to know what demographics to target than anything else, but it does have some other interesting information, even if most if it is fairly obvious.
Younger gamers are more interested in competitive gaming and social activities, for example, while older gamers prefer titles with the ‘potential for intellectual simulation.’ So if you’re an older Fortnite fan apparently you’re an outlier.
That means tweens are more likely to play battle royales, racing games, and survival games, while millennials prefer MMOs, strategy, and role-playing games.
Older gamers prefer games with complex storylines while younger players prefer competitive and teamwork-oriented games.
In terms of what unites the two groups, adventure games, survival games, fighters, and sandbox games (which is a pretty vague description) are the ones most likely to please all ages.
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