I know you’ll all be shocked to learn that people play games to have fun and chill out, but in the current industry, sometimes it’s helpful to be reminded of that with Science when certain segments would like to convince you otherwise.
In fact, the finding that over half of gamers play to unwind and destress is just one the takeaways from Fandom’s 2024 Inside Gaming study, which surveyed 5000 gamers and asked a range of questions about the industry, then analyzed Fandom’s own “proprietary, first-party data from 2024.” The study also found that large proportions of gamers play for achievement, socializing, escapism, challenge, boredom, exploration, with smaller chunks in it for brainpower, competition, and control. A whopping 46% also said they play for creativity and self-expression – again, not a surprise in this era of sandboxes, character creators, and cozy games.
Also noteworthy: 80% of respondents say they don’t share a personality with their “gamer personality,” even as 64% said it’s easier to be themselves online than in person (still trying to wrap my head around this one – it’s easier to be yourself, but people don’t do it?). And 46% of gamers said they “would like their IRL presence to be more like their gaming presence” in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, and age; 72% said they “would think more favorably of brands that helped them do so.”
Now, this is all done infographic-style; we can’t see the exact questions or demographic breakdown as we would with an actual scientific paper. But it’s worth a flip-through as a reminder that most folks really are in this industry for goals other than crushing their enemies and turning their hobby into a play-to-earn job.
