The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has released its annual Essential Facts About the U.S. Video Game Industry report, conducted in partnership with YouGov, finding that 67% of Americans ages 5 to 90 now play video games one or more hours per week.
The average age of players has risen to 37, according to the report. The findings span video game preferences across different demographics, regions, and employment status.
“Video games play an integral role in American life today, with a large majority of Americans now playing regularly,” said Stanley Pierre-Louis, President and CEO, Entertainment Software Association.
“Video games have become a powerful cultural force, while providing mental stimulation, stress relief and meaningful social connection for people of all ages.”
Highlights from the study
ESA provided the following summary of their findings.
Players continue to break stereotypes for who is a ‘gamer’.
- 212.3 million Americans play video games every week, up 3% (7.2 million) compared to 2025.
- The gender of players is split fairly equally between men and women, with 53% of men and 46% of women actively playing. Slightly more boys and men play than girls and women in all generations except Boomers (ages 62-80) where 52% of Boomer women play games compared to 47% of men.
- Video games are for everyone, not just kids. While more than 80% of Gen Alpha (age 5-13) and Gen Z (age 14-29) play video games, the majority of adults are powering up as well: 71% of Millennials (age 30-45), 56% of Gen X (age 45-61) and 50% of Boomers (age 62-80) say they play weekly. Even 32% of the silent generation (age 81-90) are joining in on the fun.
- Adult players are more likely to be employed full-time (39%) or to have children (35%) compared to the general U.S. population – 34% and 30%, respectively.
Parents prefer their kids play video games, and love playing with them, too.
- The majority of American parents (75%) actively play video games each week, with most (81%) saying they also game with their children (52% at least weekly).
- Nearly half (49%) of parents whose children play video games believe playing games teaches important skills to their children, such as problem solving and creative thinking.
- Two thirds of parents say they use parental controls with that number jumping to 70% for parents of kids 12 and under.
Americans feel overwhelmingly positive about video games.
- Most American adults recognize the positive benefits of playing video games, such as them being fun (85%), bringing joy (81%), offering stress relief (78%), and providing mental stimulation (79%). Younger players (Gen Z) especially believe that video games offer a great way to bring people together (88%) and build relationships (87%).
- Most adults agree that playing video games helps develop problem-solving skills (76%) and teamwork/collaboration (67%), as well as adaptability/resilience (58%) and STEAM (53%) and communication skills (52%).
- Nearly nine-in-ten (89%) players who play a sport both on-screen and in real life say playing the video game version of their sport improves their real-world performance.
Mobile leads the way, with people playing across genres and platforms.
- Playing on a mobile device is the most popular across all age groups (80%), while PC and console gameplay is more common with Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millennials.
- Puzzle, primarily driven by older players, is the top genre on mobile (66%) and PC (60%) but falls behind action (66%), shooter (60%) and arcade (60%) games on console.
Americans believe video games offer the most value for their money.
- A majority of players (63%) report that video games deliver the most entertainment value for their money, compared to video streaming services for music, TV and movies, as well as books, magazines and news articles.
- Most Gen Alpha (69%), Gen Z (78%) and Millennial (67%) players have purchased in-game content, typically spending $20 per month (median).
- Parents also purchase in-game content for their children (54%). Of those that do, nearly all of them (93%) require approval for in-games purchases made by their kids.
- More than half (58%) of players downloaded a game for free in the past 12 months, while 43% purchased a game, 35% purchased a game subscription and 19% borrowed a game.
The full report is available here.
