New Survey Reveals Just How Much Gaming Is Growing

A new survey from GameSpot parent company Fandom is out now, shedding light on the current state of the video game market and providing details about the base of people who play games.

Fandom's Inside Gaming report, which pulls from a survey of 15,000 Fandom users, has a number of key findings. These include the conclusion that engagement in gaming has increased in every demographic, platform, and genre over the past five years. 45% of gamers surveyed in the study said they were spending more time playing games than ever before.

The survey also found that older generations of gamers spend more hours per week playing games than teens and Gen Z. Millennials, meanwhile, are especially interested in gaming, with 52% ranking gaming as their No. 1 entertainment interest.

Another major takeaway from the Inside Gaming report was that 75% of respondents said they eat and drink while playing games, but here's to hoping it's not pizza because that can become a greasy mess very quickly.

Another notable finding was that parents and guardians are increasingly seeing the benefits of playing games with their children. Parents and guardians surveyed said they were 77% more likely to agree that gaming teaches important life skills and 38% more likely to agree with the idea that gaming helps establish teamwork and collaboration.

Here are some other findings from the Inside Gaming report:

• When seeking out new games, people said "game quality" ranked highest to help make a decision, followed by "storyline and plot" and then "design and visuals."
• Younger generations, though, reported that "cultural hype" was a bigger deciding factor.
• In terms of motivation to play games, respondents said stress relief ranked the highest, followed by relaxation and then escapism

For lots more, be sure to read the full Fandom Inside Gaming report.