A report has revealed the average age of gamers is on the rise, with half of all players in the US being aged 35 or above.
While video games are often perceived as a pastime for young kids and teenagers, reports have shown the medium’s average audience skews much older.
This has been proven yet again by the ESA’s 2026 Essential Facts About The US Video Game Industry report, which surveyed 13,545 US respondents between February 11 to 25 this year.
Of those questioned, 9,932 played at least one hour of video games each week, while 3,613 either did not play at all or played less than one hour per week.
According to the report, the average age of US gamers is 37, which is up slightly from 36 in the ESA’s 2025 report. Additionally, it found half of all players are aged 35 or older. The biggest gaming demographics were 18-34 and 50+, which are both at 29%.
The gender breakdown is perhaps closer than you’d expect as well, with 53% of active players being male and 46% being female. Although that includes every possible definition of a video game, such as browser and mobile titles.
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There are other interesting statistics too. The report finds 212.3 million people between the age of 5 and 90 play video games in the US, which is the majority of the country’s estimated 341.8 million population.
Similarly, 83% of US households have played at least one video game device within the past 12 months. Mobile is the most popular platform at 73%, with PC at 52%, and consoles at 44%. The lowest is virtual reality at 10%.
In terms of genres, puzzle games are the most popular among Americans, with 59% regularly playing across all demographics, which tracks with the dominance of mobile titles. This is followed by ‘arcade and other’ at 46%, and action games at 43%.
Additionally, the aging audience is reflected in the statistics around parents. According to the report, 75% of parents play video games, with 81% of those who do play games doing so with their children.
It’s claimed 73% of all parents surveyed would prefer their child to spend time playing video games over scrolling on social media. So, take that Instagram.
It’ll be interesting to see if these statistics change over the coming years as gaming becomes increasingly more expensive, especially with the next gen consoles supposedly around the corner. Which suggests the average age is only going to get older.
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