50+ Gamer Demographics Facts in 2024

There are around 3.04 billion gamers worldwide, with an average age of 33 years (34 years for females).

In this article, you will learn the latest statistics on:

• How many gamers are in various regions, their age, and gender distribution
• Demographic differences between PC, PlayStation, and Xbox gamers
• How much time do gamers spend playing gamer per week in different countries

Did you know that Asian gamers represent 55% of all gamers in the world? Learn more below.

Average age of gamers

How many people play video games?

What country plays the most video games?

What percentage of gamers are females?

Gamer demographics by platform

Average time spent playing video games

Major Gamer Demographics Overview

• The average American gamer is 33 years old, 31.3 for Europeans, and 34 for Australian gamers.
• While the average age for eSports players is 24 years, professional Overwatch players usually retire when they hit 23 years.
• Out of 3.2 billion gamers worldwide in 2021, 226.6 million came from the US, 408 million from Europe, and 1.6 billion from Asia.
• Almost half of the gamers in both the US and Europe represent female players.
• Globally, there are 1.8 billion PC, 151.4 million PlayStation, and 63.7 million Xbox gamers.
• The average gamer spends 8 hours and 27 minutes per week playing games.

The Average Age of Gamers

• The average gamer in the US is 33 years old.

This number mostly stayed the same in the past four years, with the exception of 2020, where most gamers were between 35-44 years old (39.5 on average).

While the ESA report doesn’t explain the age difference, it could be that due to pandemic and people staying home, more older players decided to play games to pass time.

The table shows the average age of an American gamer between 2022 and 2018:

What’s fascinating is that, on average, female gamers are older than males.

Here’s a quick comparison of average ages between the genders:

Gamers by age: Gamer age distribution

• American gamers between the ages of 18 and 34 represent the largest group in the US at 36%.

Adolescent players come second at 24% share.

Here’s a more detailed view of gamer age distribution between 2022 and 2020:

• Interestingly, the European data shows the biggest group of gamers comes from the 45-to-64 age group.

While that seems strange, based on Europe’s population data from 2022, the 33-61 age group is the most prevalent, which would explain this statistical anomaly.

Here’s a detailed view of age distribution among European gamers:

Looking a bit deeper, depending on the European country, either the 25-34 or 35-44 age group has the biggest share of gamers, but older gamers above 45 years are still holding a large share.

The table shows the age distribution of gamers from the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and France in 2021:

What is the average gamer age in Europe, Asia, & Oceania

• Average European gamers are slightly younger at 31.3 years of age.

The average age for female gamers in the EU is 32 years.

• Meanwhile, 34 years was the average age for gamers in Australia in 2018.

Interestingly, 42% of older Australians aged 65+ years considered themselves gamers.

(IGEA)

• In 2019, the 18-to-25-year-olds represented the biggest group of gamers in China.

(Statista 2)

What age group plays the most video games

• Generally, people between the ages of 18 to 34 are the likeliest to play video games in:
  • US
  • EU
  • China

How many adults play video games

• According to ESA, 76% or 63.3 million American gamers in 2022 are older than 18.

In 2020, there were 79% of adult gamers in the US, or 169.06 million gamers (considering there were roughly 214 million gamers in the US in 2020).

Here’s you can see how many adult gamers were in the US between 2022 and 2018 and how that number compares to the total number of US gamers:

The average age of esports gamers

• The average male esports player is 24 years old.

The average age for female esports players is slightly higher at 27 years.

(EGIN)

That’s still relatively high. The average players’ age in Call of Duty League is 22 years, whereas Overwatch League players are even younger at 20 years on average.

On the other hand, the average League of Legends professional player is around 26 years old.

Even more fascinating is that gamers in the competitive video gaming world retire very soon. Few are older than 30.

For example, the median retirement age in Call of Duty League is 26 years, with Overwatch League players retiring at an average of 23 years.

(Washington Post, TGG)

How Many People Play Video Games

• Around 3.2 billion people played video games in 2021.

It’s estimated that the number will go down to 3.04 billion by the end of 2022, which is even lower than the number of video game players in 2020.

That means 38% of the world’s population are gamers in 2022.

In 2021, the percentage was higher at 40.96%.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of gamer numbers worldwide:

How many people in the US play video games

• According to Entertainment Software Association, there are approximately 215.5 million gamers in the US in 2022.

That translates to 66% of the total US population.

In 2021, there were 226.6 million video gamers in the US, representing 68.27% of the US population.

The table shows how the number of US gamers changed between 2022 and 2018 and its share based on the US population:

• Up to 71% of gamers in the US are of white ethnicity.

Here’s a more accurate distribution of gamers based on their ethnicity:

• Roughly 69% of households in the US have at least one video gamer.

63% of gamers play games primarily to have fun.

(ESA)

How many people in Europe play video games

• There were 408 million gamers in Europe in 2021, according to Newzoo.

The table also shows that more than half of Europeans consider themselves gamers:

• There were 124.8 million gamers in the EU in 2021.

That’s 6.5 million more compared to 2020.

(ISFE)

Interestingly, 52% of 6-to-64-year-old Europeans play video games.

(ISFE)

• Revenue from the EU video game industry in 2021 was €23.3 billion.

(ISFE)

How many people in Asia play video games

• Asia-Pacific is the largest video gamer region, with up to 1.6 billion players in 2021.

That means that 55% of all gamers in the world come from Asia-Pacific.

What Country Plays the Most Video Games

• China is the biggest country by the number of gamers.

The country counts around 701.8 million gamers, around half its population (49.7%, to be exact).

Consequently, China earns the most gaming revenue, with $45.4 billion in earnings in 2021.

(Niko)

What countries have the most gamers

• China has by far the most gamers with over 700 million, followed by US at a distant second place with over 200 million gamers.

Germany is the biggest country in Europe by the number of gamers, with around 49.8 million players.

The table shows the estimated number of gamers per country, gamer percentage based on population in 2021, and revenues from the video gaming industry for each country:

What Percentage of Gamers are Females

• In the US, there are almost equally as much female than male gamers in 2022.

More accurately, 48% of gamers are female, whereas 52% are male.

The table compares the share of female and male gamers in the US between 2022 and 2018:

• Likewise, in Europe, the percentage of women gamers is comparable to that in the US.

In 2021, European female gamers represented a 47.8% share.

Moreover, among all EU gamers aged 6-to-15, 48% also consist of girls.

Here’s the percentage of females players in Europe between 2021 and 2019:

• In Asia, females represent around 35% of all games in that region.

95% of female players in Asia are mobile gamers.

60% play PC games, whereas only 17% are on consoles.

Gamer Demographics by Platform

Average PC gamer

• There are an estimated 1.799 billion PC gamers globally in 2022.

That’s 24 million PC gamers more compared to 2021.

The table shows how the number of PC gamers raised throughout the years:

• Females represent 40% of PC gamers in the US.

The survey was made on 2,320 adult respondents in April 2022.

(Statista 5)

• The average PC gamer in 2014 was 38 years old.

• On average, PC gamers spend 7.5 hours per week playing games.

Most PC gamers (69%) play games when the sun goes down, with 46% playing in the evening while 23% playing during the night-time.

PlayStation demographics

• PlayStation’s install base in 2021 was 151.4 million units.

(Weil)

• An average of 106.6 million monthly active users played PlayStation in 2021.

That’s less than in 2020 but (so far) more than in 2022.

Here’s how PlayStation’s average monthly active user count changed between 2022 and 2021:

• Console gamers in their 30’s are the likeliest to have PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5.

Based on ownership distribution data, a quarter of PlayStation 1 users are between 13 and 18 years old.

Here’s a more accurate age distribution for PS4/PS5 and PS1 consoles:

• At 41%, women represent a good chunk of PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 userbase.

On the other hand, PlayStation 1 has mostly male users, with only 18% female.

Sony’s main target audience for PlayStation consoles are men between 17 and 40 years.

Here are the best wireless headsets for PlayStation.

Xbox demographics

• By the end of 2021, the Xbox console install base counted 63.7 million units.

(Weil)

• Xbox had around 46 million monthly active users in 2021.

This is an estimation based on Microsoft’s claims that PlayStation has “more than double” and “close to 60 million more” monthly active users than Xbox.

(Weil)

• In 2017, the average age for an Xbox gamer was 33 years.

Most Xbox players were between 24 and 34 years old, accounting for a 28% share.

The 35-to-44 age group falls second at 23% share.

Here’s the age distribution for Xbox players in 2017:

• Roughly 42% of Xbox users were women in 2017.

Men were still in the majority at 58%.

• Almost half of Xbox gamers in 2017 were married.

Up to 23% were still living with their parents.

The table shows a more detailed view of Xbox users’ living arrangements:

• The average annual income of an Xbox user in 2017 was $75,000.

Most households with an Xbox console earned between $50,000 and $100,000 per year.

On the other hand, 7% earned less than $15,000 a year.

Here are all percentages:

• Around 53% of Xbox users spent an average of 17 hours per week playing multiplayer games.

Almost half (49%) played an average of 15 games throughout the year.

(Windows Central)

• Around 25 million users subscribed to Xbox’s Game Pass by January 2022.

Microsoft first introduced the service in 2017.

(Weil)

Average Time Spent Playing Video Games

• Gamers worldwide spend, on average, 8 hours and 27 minutes per week playing games.

(Statista 6)

• On average, Americans spend 13 hours per week playing video games.

Time spent playing video games in the US between 2022 and 2021:

And here’s a distribution of average weekly playtime in the US in 2022:

• On the other hand, the average weekly playtime in Europe is 9 hours.

That’s 4 hours less than in the US.

Here’s the table of average weekly playtimes in Europe between 2021 and 2017:

• China has one of the highest weekly playtime averages among all nations worldwide, clocking at 12 hours and 23 minutes.

The survey contained between 2,000 and 5,000 adult respondents from each country.

The table shows roughly how much gamers from different countries game every week:

• As of September 2021, young Chinese gamers aren’t allowed to play mobile games for more than 3 hours a week.

The regulation was issued by Chinese authorities to protect minors’ mental and physical health.

(KrASIA)

• Based on yearly calculations, an average American dedicates almost an entire month solely to playing games.

Calculating the weekly playtime numbers of the US, Europe, and China into monthly and yearly playtime reveals how much time an average person truly spends playing games:

Read more:

• World of Warcraft number of players per year
• Esports gamer statistics
• Rocket League player numbers

Conclusion

These were the newest gaming demographic statistics we could find. Video gaming is very popular in most countries, with at least 50% of the population allocating some of their time to playing games.

Are you among those gamers? How long have you been playing video games, and how much time do you spend playing per week?

Please let us know in the comments.