There’s nothing better than relaxing for a few hours while playing games on your phone. However, be careful. The latest gaming stats show that too many hours in front of a screen could get you addicted to gaming.
Still, gaming addiction is not the main reason behind the enormous growth of the gaming industry. With the pandemic, lockdowns, and lack of fun activities, people turned to playing games online. What’s more, many play games on their mobile devices. Check out the numbers to learn more.
Gaming Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
- About 5 million games exist at the moment.
- There were 3.24 billion gamers in the world in 2021.
- The overall gaming market is expected to hit $545.98 billion by 2028.
- The average age of a gamer in the US is from 18 to 34.
- About 2–3 million people play League of Legends on various devices.
- About 1–10% of gamers have compulsive addiction issues.
- Mobile gaming was the highest-performing industry in the world in 2020.
- The global mobile gaming market is estimated to hit $153.5 billion by 2027.
Gaming Trends
The latest trends in the gaming industry show that video games are here to provide comfort during tough times. The entire industry grew in 2020 and will continue to develop in the years to come.
1. About 5 million games are out there at the moment.
(Nationaltoday, Statista)
They go from high-speed racing adventures to perilous virtual dueling matches, so everyone can find what they like. In addition, game statistics show that about 10,696 games are listed on Steam, with 1,514 titles added just in the first two months of 2022.
2. The video game industry revenue reached $159.3 billion in 2020.
(Financesonline)
With the arrival of the pandemic in 2020 and many lockdowns, people turned to gaming. In fact, there were 2.69 billion video game players globally in 2020. This number is predicted to reach 3.07 billion in 2023, based on a 5.6% year-on-year growth forecast, the data on the gaming industry worth show.
3. There were 3.24 billion gamers in the world in 2021.
(Statista)
Regionally, Asia was the largest gaming market, with about 1.48 billion gamers. In second place is Europe, with a gaming audience of 715 million.
4. China is the largest gaming market, with $40.85 billion in revenue.
(Financesonline)
Moreover, it has the largest number of gamers worldwide—665 million, to be exact. According to gaming facts, the US is second, with $36.92 billion, and Japan is third, having a revenue of $18.68 billion.
5. The overall gaming market is expected to hit $545.98 billion by 2028.
(Globenewswire)
Online video games have become prevalent in recent years. So much so that the overall gaming market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 13.2% for the forecasted period, the latest data on the gaming industry market size shows.
6. Market segmentation data shows the shooter segment held a market share of 23.35%.
(Globenewswire)
The market is divided based on the game type and covers shooter, sports, action, role-playing, and similar. In 2020, the shooter segment was the most prominent. In addition, it is expected to grow even more because it offers a realistic 3D experience.
Gamers Demographic
Many people play games; some even start when they are 10. Still, the average age of a gamer is 32 for men and 36 for women, but even people aged 65 love having fun on their mobile devices.
7. The largest percent of gamers in the US come from the 18–34 age group.
(Statista)
In fact, 38% of gamers belong to this age category. Furthermore, video game users statistics show that 20% of gamers are under 18, 14% of them are 35–44 years old, and 9% are from the 55–64 age group. Finally, people over 65 represent only 7% of the US gaming population.
8. Out of the total percentage of players, 41% are female.
(Theesa)
There are 214.4 million video game players in the US, out of which 59% are male. Statistics on female gamers show that they make up a smaller percentage. In addition, 63% of women older than 65 report playing games for less than 10 years.
9. A total of 65% of women aged 10 to 65 play mobile games in the US.
(Google)
In addition, 64% of female mobile gamers prefer mobile games over other gaming platforms, compared to 38% of men, female gamers percentage shows. Furthermore, 43% of women play mobile games five times per week or more, while 38% of male players play that often.
10. The average age of a Minecraft player is 24.
(PCgamesn)
Minecraft is still among the best games in the world. It has a higher player count than Fortnite or GTA5. Even though many believe this game is mostly played by children, the average Minecraft player age is 24.
11. About 2–3 million people play League of Legends across devices.
(Techcake, PlayerCounter, ISPO)
LoL is free to play and highly addictive. At the moment, 2,518,136 LoL gamers actively play the game across multiple devices. LoL was also the second most popular eSports game globally in 2020.
12. Most LoL gamers come from the US.
(PlayerCounter)
When it comes to League of Legends demographics, most LoL gamers come from the US—a total of 14.4%. Next is Turkey, with 9.26% of LoL gamers, then Brazil, Germany, and Russia, with 9.11%, 5.97%, and 4.98% of players, respectively.
How Addictive Are Games?
Games pull people into a world that’s fun and provide experiences some may never have in real life. This is why the latest gaming stats show that online gaming is addictive. However, not everyone becomes addicted, and some are more prone than others. Overall, up to 1% of the population is addicted at the moment.
13. About 1–10% of gamers have compulsive addiction issues.
(The Recovery Village)
Video games are highly immersive, which might be the reason many people experience gaming addiction. According to gaming addiction stats, over 2 billion people play video games worldwide, including 150 million in the United States. Video games are also more accessible than before, which means more people play them often, and that can lead to addiction.
14. About 0.3% to 1% of the overall population fit the criteria for video game addiction diagnosis.
(Healthygamer)
Furthermore, video game addiction has become a public health crisis in South Korea as more than 600,000 children struggle with it, gamer stats show. Based on the national survey conducted in Japan, exhibited signs of internet gaming disorder (IGD) range from 0.7% to 27.5%. In addition, about 1.4% of gamers are addicted in Norway.
15. About 22% of gamers spent up to 80% of their time playing multiplayer online games.
(The Recovery Village)
Both MMO and RPG games can be highly addictive. Moreover, gamer statistics reveal that some of the most addictive video games include Fortnite, LoL, World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Assassin’s Creed.
16. A total of 9% of students who are pathological gamers have already suffered from anxiety and depression.
(Therecoveryvillage)
What’s more, they used gaming to cope with anxiety and depression. These children are elementary and secondary school students, according to gaming statistics. Experts recommend that parents install parental control software if they notice their children tendency to spend too much time playing online games.
17. Young adult males aged 18 to 24 are at a high risk of developing a video game addiction.
(Healthygamer)
Some age groups are more prone to gaming addiction than others. Moreover, 1.82 million males and 1.3 million females older than 20 live with internet addiction. Additionally, 6% of females and 94% of males represent the gender breakdown when it comes to gaming addiction.
Mobile Gaming Stats
As mobile phones are a huge part of people’s lives, it’s expected that mobile gaming will become more common. Both Google Play and Apple Store have many gaming apps, and games are the most downloaded apps of all.
18. Google Play contains about 449,49 mobile games.
(Statista)
Google Play is Google’s platform where Android users can download games and other apps. In Q4 2021, there were about 670,447 games on the platform, statistics on gaming show. The number from 2022 represents a 32.96 decrease compared to the previous quarter.
19. When it comes to the Apple Store, it has about 984,000 mobile games.
(Businessofapps)
Regarding iOS users, the Apple Store has close to one million games. Gaming stats show that games make up 21.8% of all apps in the Store. Additionally, games are the most popular category iOS users download. In fact, iOS had 34.4 billion game and app downloads in 2020.
20. Mobile gaming was the highest performing industry in the world in 2020.
(Businessofapps)
Gaming industry stats indicate that mobile gaming was the top-performing industry in the world in 2020. It hit $77.2 billion in revenue, and the trend will likely continue in the future. This industry also saw a 12% increase in the number of players globally.
21. In 2021, the global mobile gaming market generated $7.7 billion from players spending across the App Store and Google Play.
(Sensortower)
That’s an 8.6% increase year-over-year. Moreover, gaming statistics reveal that the United States was the top market for global revenue in August 2021, and it accumulated approximately $2.1 billion, or 28% of total player spending worldwide.
22. 36% of all mobile app downloads in 2020 were games.
(Appannie)
Since there were a total of 218 billion app downloads, games represented 80 billion downloaded mobile apps. What’s more, gamers spent 296 billion hours on mobile games.
23. Gamers spent more than $19 billion on mobile games in Q2 2020.
(Businessofapps)
Furthermore, the latest gaming stats show that a total of 21% of all Android app downloads were games. Regarding iOS, games accounted for a total of 25% of all downloads.
24. The global mobile gaming market is estimated to hit $153.5 billion by 2027.
(Globenewswire)
This represents a CAGR of 11.5% for the forecasted period. Regionally, the US, China, Japan, Canada, and Germany will be key markets to support growth.
Conclusion
According to the latest gaming stats, the overall gaming industry doesn’t plan on stopping soon. The mobile gaming sector also plays a key role in the market growth, as people love playing games on mobile devices.
However, a certain amount of gamers get addicted, so it’s best to limit your gaming time to just two hours a day. Remember, regardless of the platform you use for gaming, the main goal is to have fun and relax, and not get pulled into addiction.
Another thing to be mindful of is cyberbullying, as 7.9% of victims report being cyberbullied through online games.
People Also Ask
How many gamers are there in the world in 2021?
People love playing games since they are immersive, fun, and offer a powerful experience. This is why there are about 3.24 billion active gamers at the moment.
Asia had about 1.48 billion active gamers, making it the largest gaming market regionally. Europe was second, with about 715 million gamers. In addition, shooter games were the most popular among gamers.
Do gamers have higher IQs?
Based on a recent study conducted by Royal Panda, PC gamers have the highest IQ averaging 112 points. Next are PlayStation gamers, with an average IQ of 110.7.
Xbox users have an average IQ of 103.8, while Nintendo Switch gamers scored 101.3. Mobile gamers were in last place, with an average IQ of 99.4. For comparison, the average IQ ranges from 85 to 115.
What is the average age of a gamer?
The average age of gamers ranges from 18 to 34. Female gamers are 36 on average, while male gamers are close and aged 32. Overall, 65% of women aged 10 to 65 often play video games.
Surprisingly, Minecraft is considered a children’s game, but the average age of Minecraft players is 24. What’s more, males aged 18 to 24 are more prone to video game addiction.
Is 1 hour of gaming enough?
Video games can be addictive. You might want to consider limiting the time you spend in front of the screen. However, one hour of gaming may not be enough. For example, a single match in an FPS game or a quest in an RPG game might last up to 45 minutes. Still, experts advise limiting the game time in front of the screen to a maximum of two hours each day.
What percentage of people have a gaming addiction?
Games are so immersive that many people struggle with gaming addiction. About one in 10% of gamers have compulsive addiction issues, and approximately 0.3% to 1% of the overall population fit the criteria for game addiction diagnosis.
Approximately 22% of gamers spend up to 80% of their time playing games, and young adult males aged 18 to 24 are at a high risk of getting hooked on a game and being diagnosed with addiction.
What country is best at gaming?
Even though China holds the majority of the gaming market, South Korea is widely recognized as the country that started the eSports phenomenon. South Korea also keeps producing the legends of eSports.
For example, a Korean eSports star, Faker, single-handedly won more than $1.2 million in eSports prizes. China is second-best in eSports and now has some of the top gaming talents, the latest gaming stats show.
