What Age Is The Average Gamer

People often have, and for a long time, perceived the average gamer as some teenage boy, maybe even a child, or perhaps someone in their early 20s. However, as shown by research from Findbettingsites.co.uk, this doesn’t necessarily hold in today’s reality; and although it may have been true in the past, today’s research showcases another side to the story and is in conflict with this stereotype.

Research by the website Statista showcases how about 38% – which was the largest portion of the sample, which studied 4’000 respondents – of video gamers were in the age bracket of 18-34. The second most populated bracket, however, was not below 18, but instead, was the 34-54 years old bracket. This bracket itself accounts for around 26% of the total respondents. The amount of below 18-year-olds saying they play video games, and identify themselves as gamers, was just about 21% for the group of respondents.

On the other hand, you have research suggesting that younger gamers, and a younger audience in the video gaming industry in general, spend much more time playing games and watching other people play games (live streams, youtube, etc.) than the older age brackets.

Perhaps this result may be due to the fact that gaming is a mainstream hobby and, for many, has become a part of their lifestyle. In the same way, people in the past would spend their time relaxing in front of the TV, mowing their lawn, or playing checkers; today, individuals (especially in the 18-34 bracket) may spend some of their free time playing video. Moreover, this generation has grown up around video games being a mainstream “children’s toy” in the 90s and 00s, so they may have actually grown up around it, which makes it more likely for them to carry on playing video games in adulthood.

This skewed version of a “typical gamer” is therefore countered by the idea that gaming no longer means just grabbing a console and playing the most recent game you bought from a physical store. Instead, gamers today get to choose from libraries full of purchasable games, upload their highlights to youtube or even watch other individuals’ highlights on youtube. Many adults today, especially those aged 18-34, have grown up around video games, in and around the same timeframe as the whole video gaming industry has been maturing. Growing up around an industry like this, especially when it comes to entertainment, makes it more likely that older people will continue to play video games.