Societal & Cultural Impact
Half of Europe’s population plays video games
53%
of the population between the ages of 6 and 64 plays video games
46.7%
of European video game players are women
76%
of video game players are over 18 and the average age of a video game player in Europe is 32 years old
9 hours
is the weekly average playtime
Video game experiences are as diverse as the billions of people who play them.
Improving mental health: Video games provided an important source of comfort and positively impacted mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the latest academic studies show a positive relationship between video game playtime and well-being.
Supplementing health treatment options: Video games are used as supplemental treatment options for health conditions, such as alleviating anxiety, ADHD, and Alzheimer’s, and can help manage side effects from cancer treatment.
Bringing People Together: Video games offer players a sense of community in which they can work together to investigate, compete, and solve problems. When other forms of shared entertainment were scarce, video games provided virtual socialisation and engagement in gameplay became a means of preventing feelings of loneliness.
Furthermore, according to research conducted in the UK by innovation charity Nesta in 2017, those who play video games are better educated, are no less wealthy and are more likely than non-games players to participate actively in culture.
If you want to find out more on how video games benefits society at large, click here.
“We welcome this research that dispels the assumed stereotypes of people who play games. Games are creative, innovative and immersive experiences that enrich our everyday cultural life, and inspire new ways of understanding and interacting with the world around us. It is not surprising that this research indicates that players are more likely to be actively participating in other cultural media.”
Dr Jo Twist OBE CEO of Ukie