More adult women play video games than do teenage boys. Despite the stereotype of the average video game player being a teenage boy or college male, the average video game player is actually 37 years old. In fact, more than 80 percent of video game players are 18 or older, and about 40 percent of them are women — boys 17 and younger represent less than 15 percent of all video game players.
More facts about the gaming community:
- More than 90 percent of people 17 and younger play video or computer games, and they make up more than 40 percent of physical gaming software sales. About 45 percent of parents play video games with their children at least once a week.
- About one-third of video gamers are 50 or older. This number grew almost 10 percent between 1999 and 2011.
- Around one-fifth of frequent video game players pay to play online, but role-playing or multi-player universe games account for only about one-third of online play. About half of online gameplay comes from puzzles, card games or trivia games.