Average age of gamer is 32

Vyse · 28-05-2010 9:23am #1

Not that it's a big suprise but:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/average-age-of-gamers-is-32-says-study

I would expect this to increase as the years go on. I would imagine that the average age of a gamer 20 years ago was 12:D

Retr0gamer · 28-05-2010 9:44am

Hmm... a voluntary online survey. I'm not sure that those results are accurate.

falan · 28-05-2010 9:53am

That sounds about right. I'm 31 so gaming was my generation. I remember about 6 years ago i would have been 25 odd and i remember saying to one of the boys at work who was in his 40s that i was into gaming. His reply was that video games were for kids and what was i doing playing games at that age:rolleyes:

I explained to him that i had grown up with it and that many games nowadays were aimed at my age group. He thought i was mad:D

sink · 28-05-2010 9:56am

I'm sceptical, how many 12 year olds fill out online surveys?

folan · 28-05-2010 9:58am

so, im a young gamer.

must be single player games! cause online, I usually end up playing against people who seem to have the combined age of a pair of my socks!

weiland79 · 28-05-2010 10:04am

34 here.

VinLieger · 28-05-2010 10:56am

The ESRB confirmed this a few years ago, its pretty much an accepted fact now

marco_polo · 28-05-2010 11:24am

Not realy surprising, howverver if you just include MW2 on Xbox live the average age drops substantialy ....

petes · 28-05-2010 11:48am

It's not surprising. I read this forum more than I post but I reckon the average age of posters here is about 30. Most of us grew up with NES, Master System and up. Give it a few years and it's still going to be the same but the 30 year olds will have grown up with Xbox 360 and PS3's.

allanb49 · 28-05-2010 11:50am

i feel so young at only 24

Wossack · 28-05-2010 12:01pm

playin a tf2 game the other day with a 64 year old, and his son (somewhere in his 30's, cant recall)

hearing someone older then me saying, "dad, help me build me sentry", was a bit funny

sink · 28-05-2010 12:13pm

I'm 26 so i'm below average age apparently. That's not been my experience, out of my friends who are typically age between 22 - 32 only ~20% would be gamers and I have more guy friends then girl friends. But when I look at my cousins who are 12 (boy) and 14 (girl) and their friends, virtually all of them, girls included, play games regularly on their Nintendo DS's & iPod touches.

I don't think they read games sites and would be very unlikely to partake in a self selecting online poll, so chances are the survey misses a huge demographic of tweener/teen gamers.

previous user · 28-05-2010 12:23pm

Average age of a gamer is 32, thats just really really sad.

petes · 28-05-2010 12:24pm

previous user wrote: »

Average age of a gamer is 32, thats just really really sad.

Explain.

previous user · 28-05-2010 12:28pm

Insurgent wrote: »

Explain.

Only kidding!

I'm 33 and I own a wii, ps2, xbox 360 and an xbox, now to sit down to my 10 hour marathon gaming session of Oblivion, WHOOP! WHOOP! WHOOP!

petes · 28-05-2010 12:33pm

previous user wrote: »

Only kidding!

I'm 33 and I own a wii, ps2, xbox 360 and an xbox, now to sit down to my 10 hour marathon gaming session of Oblivion, WHOOP! WHOOP! WHOOP!

Cool. I thought you were taking the piss. 30 here and have a PS3.

One thing that does annoy me these days is that I don't feel that I have to finish a game. Play it. It's great but thats it. I have a heap of games at home that I have yet to finish but on the final level.

marco_polo · 28-05-2010 12:33pm

sink wrote: »

I'm 26 so i'm below average age apparently. That's not been my experience, out of my friends who are typically age between 22 - 32 only ~20% would be gamers and I have more guy friends then girl friends. But when I look at my cousins who are 12 (boy) and 14 (girl) and their friends, virtually all of them, girls included, play games regularly on their Nintendo DS's & iPod touches.

I don't think they read games sites and would be very unlikely to partake in a self selecting online poll, so chances are the survey misses a huge demographic of tweener/teen gamers.

Not just online surveys though the ESA put it even higher at 35, and most other studies seem to com up with a figure the far(my) side of 30.

http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp

previous user · 28-05-2010 12:35pm

I usually just play fallout 3 and Oblivion bout a year and a half after I got both so yeah, some games can be immersive alright. I hear the sequel to Oblivion is coming out in October, so much gaming and so little time.

petes · 28-05-2010 12:37pm

I've stopped myself so far in playing Fallout 3. Bought it, played it a bit but knew if I played anymore I'd be a recluse

Last 3 games I've spent time on were Arkham Aysulum, Uncharterd 2 and Assisins Creed. Ah now I want to go home and stay in with my pipe and slippers and play some games!!

sink · 28-05-2010 12:40pm

marco_polo wrote: »

Not just online surveys though the ESA put it even higher at 35, and most other studies seem to com up with a figure the far(my) side of 30.

http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp

Well I'll have to submit to that. My anecdotal observations don't seem to match the average.

Vegeta · 28-05-2010 12:49pm

Call me ignorant but I refuse to believe that.

online survey = fail and ESA don't state how they come up with their figures

"Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of people know that."

VinLieger · 28-05-2010 2:07pm

Vegeta wrote: »

Call me ignorant but I refuse to believe that.

online survey = fail and ESA don't state how they come up with their figures

"Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of people know that."

Believe what you want but its been an accepted fact within the industry for the past few years

Retr0gamer · 28-05-2010 2:10pm

VinLieger wrote: »

Believe what you want but its been an accepted fact within the industry for the past few years

I call bull. The demograph is definitely getting older but there's still a hell of a lot more gamers in the 7-20 year old bracket.

petes · 28-05-2010 2:12pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I call bull. The demograph is definitely getting older but there's still a hell of a lot more gamers in the 7-20 year old bracket.

Back that up.

F1ngers · 28-05-2010 2:13pm

allanb49 wrote: »

i feel so young at only 24

You're below average...:p

At 42, I'm above average...:D....no wait...:(

marco_polo · 28-05-2010 2:18pm

Vegeta wrote: »

Call me ignorant but I refuse to believe that.

online survey = fail and ESA don't state how they come up with their figures

"Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of people know that."

The data included in the 2008 Essential Facts was gathered in an annual study conducted by Ipsos MediaCT for the ESA. The study is the most in-depth and targeted of its kind, gathering data from over 1,200 nationally representative households that have been identified as owning either or both a video game console or personal computer used to run entertainment software.

Average Age 28 in the UK 5 years ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/05/entertainment_gaming_in_the_uk/html/3.stm

And the trend is that the average is increasing. That ESA study was 35 years, in 2006 it was 33. A CDC study came up with the exact same figure of 35

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8206163.stm

A UK survey from 2002, conducted by the Leisure Software Publishers Association, found the average gamer was aged between 25 and 34.

But it also suggested that the average age of the keenest players is gradually edging upwards, a finding reinforced by the CDC finding.

The team from CDC examined people's perception of their mood, personality, health status, physical and mental health, body mass index (BMI) and quality of life.

Every survey on the matter points to the same general age range so I don't see why it is all that surprising to people.

mayordenis · 28-05-2010 3:21pm

previous user wrote: »

Average age of a gamer is 32, thats just really really sad.

previous user wrote: »

Only kidding!

I'm 33 and I own a wii, ps2, xbox 360 and an xbox, now to sit down to my 10 hour marathon gaming session of Oblivion, WHOOP! WHOOP! WHOOP!

greatest turn around of all time - really thought you were just trolling for a min :pac:

VinLieger · 28-05-2010 3:21pm

Insurgent wrote: »

Back that up.

This.
I dont understand peoples refusal to accept the figures? Several different survey sources have been given. Why do you disagree so strongly? Do you think the surveys are made up or have huge error margins?

Vegeta · 28-05-2010 4:05pm

marco_polo wrote: »

Average Age 28 in the UK 5 years ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/05/entertainment_gaming_in_the_uk/html/3.stm

And the trend is that the average is increasing. That ESA study was 35 years, in 2006 it was 33. A CDC study came up with the exact same figure of 35

Every survey on the matter points to the same general age range so I don't see why it is all that surprising to people.

The CDC study was carried out on 19 to 90 year olds so hardly surprising because they left children out.

marco_polo · 28-05-2010 4:10pm

Vegeta wrote: »

The CDC study was carried out on 19 to 90 year olds so hardly surprising because they left children out.

D'oh. Epic fail for me.

Vegeta · 28-05-2010 4:29pm

marco_polo wrote: »

D'oh. Epic fail for me.

Don't sweat it

I am a cynical person at heart anyway but for every 30year+ gamer I know personally I know twenty or thirty 10-20 year olds.

So in my experience as a gamer in Ireland I just don't believe the average age is 35.

Online surveys are obviously limited to the population of people online, and even further to the people who read the type of site the survey was listed on, probably a computer game journalism site.

CDC was adults

I cant find any raw data for the ESA report, couldn't even find the piece of text you quoted on there.

Average age of gamer is 32

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