AARP: 45% of people 50+ play games

gamesindustry.biz:

The AARP this week released the results of its latest 50-Plus Gamer of Today and Tomorrow survey, providing insight into the growing game playing audience reaching retirement age.

A survey of nearly 7,800 people conducted last June and July found that 45% of those aged 50 and over played video games at least once a month.

That's up slightly from the 44% reported in the 2019 version of this survey and more significantly over the 38% who played when the first version of the poll was conducted in 2016.

There was more noticeable growth in how much time those 50+ gamers spent playing. In the 2019 poll they averaged 8.5 hours a week over the prior six months. The 2022 poll found that average had grown to 12 hours.

Older gamers also skew heavily to mobile platforms, with 84% saying they played on mobile compared to 28% on console and 21% on smart home technology (which includes smart TVs, digital media players, and home assistants).

Computers, laptops, and tablets were lumped together in a separate category, with 53% of respondents saying they played on them as well.

While more 50+ gamers in the most recent survey actually spent money on games (38% last year, compared to 27% in 2019), the average amount spent in the six months prior to the survey decreased ($49 last year, compared to $64 in 2019).

As for what they play, puzzle and logic, card and tile, and word games were the three most popular genres for each age group examined (50-59, 60-69, and 70+), with the popularity of the word game genre receiving a boost from what the AARP calls "The Wordle Effect."

36% of gamers 50+ listed word games in their top three favorite genres. When the 2019 survey was conducted, Wordle had not yet been released and the word game