Australians love their video games. In fact, 81 per cent of the population plays video games according to the new Australia Plays 2023 report – that’s a 14 per cent jump from the previous report.
The Australia Plays 2023 report was produced by the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) in conjunction with Bond University.
It proves conclusively that gaming is a mainstream activity and that it’s not just for kids with the average age of a gamer found to be 35 years old – that’s up by three months from the last report.
And nearly half of all gamers are female at 48 per cent – up from 46 per cent. And more women than men play videos aged 55 years and over.
The report found 94 per cent of Australian households have a device for playing video games and 76 per cent have two or more.
And gaming is also a family affair with 91 per cent of parents playing with their children.
The report also posed the question: why do you play video games? The most popular answers were for enjoyment (91 per cent), to bring joy to their lives (82 per cent) and to nurture their mental health (66 per cent).
And what do they enjoy within the game? The most popular responses were achieving (92 per cent), exploring (81 per cent) and socialising with others (59 per cent).
The most popular gaming genres are Puzzle (36 per cent), Action/Adventure (32 per cent) and strategy (21 per cent).
Australians over 65 who play games say it is to feel challenged and to improve their mental health.
The report says aging Australians who play games are wanting to increase their mental stimulation, promoting mindfulness and to fight dementia.
“Australia Plays 2023 proves that Australia is a nation that loves to play, achieve, connect,
and learn through video games,” said Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA.
“Over 80 per cent of the population is now engaging with video games, making it clear that video games have become a part of everyday life.
“Over 90 per cent of Australian gamers say they find joy in video games, as is reflected
by our successful local industry.
“Video games have proven to be very important to this country’s economy, as can be seen by the recently released consumer video games sales data in Australia.”