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It might not come as any surprise, but it’s nice to have the statistics.

The Entertainment Software Association just put out its 2014 report of Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry. The statistics reflect a much more diverse picture of gaming than we often see painted by mainstream media.

For instance, the ESA reports finding on average two gamers per game-playing American household. And guess what? If you own a dedicated gaming console you are… perfectly average. In fact, of the 51% of American households that have a gaming console, most own at least two.

And it’s not all about gaming kids! The average gamer is now 31. What’s more, the women have the boys beat: 36% of the game-playing population is women 18 or older, and 17% is boys under 18.

How about that? (Source: ESA)

How about that? (Source: ESA)

Obviously we’re really excited about this. We’ve already done our own survey that showed nearly equal amounts of moms and dads were playing games with their kids.

So for all you gaming adults and especially you gaming ladies who feel like a minority, fear not and speak up! There’s no reason to be afraid of calling yourself a gamer in 2014.


This article was written by

Simone de Rochefort is a game journalist, writer, podcast host, and video producer who does a prolific amount of Stuff. You can find her on Twitter @doomquasar, and hear her weekly on tech podcast Rocket, as well as Pixelkin's Gaming With the Moms podcast. With Pixelkin she produces video content and devotes herself to Skylanders with terrifying abandon.