Video gaming is no longer a hobby exclusively enjoyed by the young. As generations have grown up with video games a normal part of life, the age of the average gamer also increases. During a 2023 survey, 25 percent of video game players still come from the 27 to 42 years age demographic, and 19 percent are 59 years and older. Time spent gaming In 2023, Americans aged between 15 to 19 years spent 98.4 minutes on gaming or leisurely computer use during an average day. The age demographic which devoted the least amount of time to gaming was the 55 to 64 years category. Members of this age demographic spent an average of just 17.4 minutes playing on the computer during an average day.

Video gaming is no longer just a hobby of teenagers - thanks to developments in gaming technology and the accessibility of many games, the activity has become very popular among both genders and young and old alike. During a June 2021 survey in the United States, 89 percent of respondents stated that they had made friends through playing video games.

Video gaming is a popular way for gamers to connect with friends and family, and many gamers have formed relationships through video games. During a February 2025 survey, 78 percent of responding gamers in the United States agreed that playing games can introduce people to new friends.

In 2024, total U.S. consumer spending on video game content amounted to **** billion U.S. dollars, a significant increase from ***** billion U.S. dollars in the preceding year. Video game spending surged in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In April 2025, total video games sales in the United States amounted to **** billion U.S. dollars, representing a one percent year-over-year increase. Generally speaking, the video game industry has its most important months in November and December, as video game software and hardware make very popular Christmas gifts. In December 2024, total U.S. video game sales surpassed **** billion U.S. dollars. Birth of the video game industry Although the largest regional market in terms of sales, as well as number of gamers, is Asia Pacific, the United States is also an important player within the global video games industry. In fact, many consider the United States as the birthplace of gaming as we know it today, fueled by the arcade game fever in the ’60s and the introduction of the first personal computers and home gaming consoles in the ‘70s. Furthermore, the children of those eras are the game developers and game players of today, the ones who have driven the movement for better software solutions, better graphics, better sound and more advanced interaction not only for video games, but also for computers and communication technologies of today. An ever-changing market However, the video game industry in the United States is not only growing, it is also changing in many ways. Due to increased internet accessibility and development of technologies, more and more players are switching from single-player console or PC video games towards multiplayer games, as well as social networking games and last, but not least, mobile games, which are gaining tremendous popularity around the world. This can be evidenced in the fact that mobile games accounted for ** percent of the revenue of the games market worldwide, ahead of both console games and downloaded or boxed PC games.

As of June 2024, 27 percent of adults in the United States spent one to five hours per week playing video games. A further 10 percent of respondents stated that they spent 11 to 15 hours on video gaming in an average week. Overall, 19 percent of respondents were non-gamers and did not spend any time on video games.

A global consumer survey conducted in March 2024 found that 18 percent of respondents were more likely to buy a video game if it was advertised as a collector or limited edition. However, 45 percent of respondents stated that they were not interested in limited edition releases.

As of June 2024, 28 percent of female adults in the United States spent one to five hours per week playing video games. A further 15 percent of female respondents stated that they spent six to ten hours on video gaming in an average week. In contrast, 12 percent of male respondents indicated that they spent 11 to 15 hours per week on video games. Overall, 22 percent of responding women were non-gamers and did not spend any time on video games but only 16 percent male adults in the United States were a non-gamer.

According to a survey conducted in March 2024, 76 percent of adults in the United States played video games on at least one platform. In comparison, 24 percent of U.S. adults did not play video games at all.

A July 2022 survey of U.S. gamers aged 50-plus found that puzzle and logic games were the most popular video game genre among respondents in that age bracket. Card and tile games ranked second, with 69 percent of respondents stating that they typically played video games like that.

As well as being one of the leading gaming market in terms of revenue in 2020, the United States is also considered by many as the birthplace of gaming as we know it today. In 2023, the number of employees in the video gaming industry in the United States reached over *** thousand.

In 2022, the average price for a video game sold in the United States at the year of release was ***** U.S. dollars, the first time this level of pricing had been reached. Games for the latest console platforms, PlayStation 5 and Xbox X/S, are more expensive than their predecessors. This has many reasons, such as increased production costs as well as other economic factors, such as inflation.

Video gaming is no longer just a hobby of teenagers - thanks to developments in gaming technology and the accessibility of many games, the activity has become very popular among both genders and young and old alike. Despite its popularity, the anonymous nature of online gaming leaves some gamers open to harassment and negative experiences. During an August 2023 survey in the United States, 67 percent of respondents stated that they had been called offensive names while playing video games. Overall, 76 percent of responding gamers had encountered online harassment, down from 83 percent two years prior.

In 2025, women accounted for 47 percent of gamers in the United States, up from 46 percent of U.S. gamers identifying as women during the previous year.

What percentage gamers are female? Almost half of gaming audiences in the United States are female. This development has been ongoing for years, and whereas women are under-represented in games media and the industry, they make up a sizable chunk of gamers and spending power. There are some differences in terms of genre preferences but as a whole, female gaming audiences in the United States are just as engaged as their male counterparts.

A survey conducted in the third quarter of 2024 found that over 92 percent of female internet users aged 16 to 24 years worldwide played video games on any kind of device. During the survey period, 93 percent of male respondents in the same age group stated that they played video games. Worldwide, over 83 percent of internet users were gamers.

According to a survey of global internet audiences in the third quarter of 2024, 83.6 percent of internet users played video games on any device. The Philippines had the highest video gaming usage reach, ranking first with a gaming penetration of 96.6 percent. Indonesia ranked second, with 96.4 percent of responding internet users stating that they played video games. The United Kingdom and Japan ranked last, with 71.1 and 64.4 percent of internet users, respectively, reporting their participation in video gaming. The impact of mobile gaming The global gaming penetration among online users was over 83 percent, highlighting how much of a mainstream hobby gaming has become. Additionally, as shown by the many mobile-first digital markets with strong gaming reach, the impact of readily available mobile gaming devices cannot be overstated. A survey from the third quarter of 2024 found that smartphones were the most popular way to play video games worldwide, with more than 67 percent of respondents stating to play video games in such a way. This usage rate was miles ahead of second-ranked laptop or desktop PCs, which only 34 percent of global gamers stated to use. Who are the global gaming audiences? A survey conducted in the third quarter of 2023 found that 89.6 percent of female internet users aged 16 to 24 years worldwide played video games on any kind of device. During the survey period, 92.6 percent of male respondents in the same age group stated that they played video games. Gaming is a more popular activity among younger age groups, but even seven in ten respondents between 55 and 64 years old stated that they were gamers. Gaming genre preferences vary by age group, but overall, shooters and action-adventure games rank first in terms of popularity among users. Other popular gaming genres were simulation and sports games.

In 2024, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, published by Activision Blizzard, was the top-selling video game in the United States based on dollar sales. EA Sports College Football 25 was in second place, followed by the shooter Helldivers II. The dominance of AAA gaming productions In the video-game industry, AAA (pronounced Triple-A) is a classification that is used when describing or talking about video games that are produced and distributed by major or mid-tier video game developers. These game productions typically have a large development and marketing budget. When looking at the top-selling video games in the United States in 2023, the majority of the best-selling titles were produced by the biggest gaming companies worldwide. In addition to several publicly listed video game companies, gaming platform owners Sony and Nintendo also produce top-selling games with Sony's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom also reaching rank four and five, respectively. Spotlight: Call of Duty series Activision Blizzard’s long-running Call of Duty franchise usually features in many end-of-the-year lists as it is one of the top-grossing and best-selling gaming franchises worldwide. As of April 2021, the Call of Duty (CoD) series has generated more than 400 million lifetime unit sales and the most recent entry in the series is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, which was released in November 2023. The annual releases of the game series are rotated between several game development studios which are subsidiaries of Activision Blizzard: Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, and Raven Software.

In March 2025, Assassin's Creed Shadows was the top-selling video game in the United States based on dollar sales. MLB: The Show 25 ranked second. The video game sales charts that month were dominated by blockbuster franchise games.

As of June 2024, 34 percent of video gaming audiences in the United States belonged to the top third of households by income. A further 32 percent of U.S. gamers were belonged to the middle household income segment.

The graph shows the distribution of U.S. video game sales by genre. In 2018, 11.1 percent of all video games sold in the United States were sports games.