How gaming can rise above its stereotypes | Stanley Pierre-Louis interview
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Games are for nerds. Games are too violent. Games ruin your grades. Games breed toxicity. And only antisocial teenage boys play games.
We’ve all heard the stereotypes, and the Entertainment Software Association’s CEO, Stanley Pierre-Louis, is trying to discredit them as ancient myths. I talked to him about that and the lobbying group’s latest report on the diversity of games and gamers at the Games for Change 2023 event last week in New York.
Pierre-Louis noted that 65% of all Americans — 212.6 million people — play video games every week. And 59% of Americans have a gaming console at home. There are about as many gamers under 18 (26%) as there are players over 45 (25%). About 46% of players are female, 53% are male, and another 1% choose not to identify or identify in another way.
About 80% of gamers play with others, and 71% say games do a good job of creating welcoming and inclusive environments. The majority of players (88%) agree that games help expand their social circles, and 82% say video games can introduce people to new friends and new relationships. And 76% of U.S. parents play video games with their children. Players believe video games provide mental stimulation (90%) and stress relief (90%) and help improve cognitive skills (88%).
Video game players are more likely to engage regularly in creative hobbies than non-gamers, with 33% participating at least weekly vs. 22% of non-gamers. And 49% agree video games provide physical activity, up from 45% in 2022.
These are things we expect Pierre-Louis to say. Pierre-Louis has worked for the ESA for more than eight years and has been president and CEO
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