Surveys say that today's youth are more interested in stories about platonic friendships and social groups than romance and sex, and game developers are taking note of that and other trends in teen media consumption.
To a crowd of games industry professionals at D.I.C.E. Summit last week, TV executive turned game studio founder Sharon Tal Yguado and Roblox VP of civility and partnerships Tami Bhaumik spoke about «what teens want,» presenting recent research and their observations.
The first observation: Kids are lonely. According to one study, 73% of young people ages 16 to 24 say they sometimes or always feel alone.
Many also report feeling sad and hopeless. Bhaumik attributes this to everything: the state of the world, climate change, social media feeds.
It isn't all doom and gloom. Citing research from UCLA's Center for Scholars and Storytellers, Yguado said that young people aren't the superficial, fad-obsessed TikTok fiends they're made out to be: They care about things like safety, kindness, acceptance, physical fitness, friendship, and spiritual connection, she said.