Why People Become Gamers ... And How It’s Changing

Fandom recently released the latest edition of their annual Inside Gaming Report where they survey 5,000 "entertainment and gaming fans globally." The data this year found that the top reason that people play games continues to be to unwind or relieve stress, followed closely by a more surprising motivation: self-expression.

Nearly 50% of the gamers surveyed suggested that "creation, imagination, and self-expression" were their main motivations for gaming, a rise of 10% since 2023. While some of this rise may be attributed to a bias in who is participating in the survey (not to mention the motivations of the platform behind it), these two data points offer a valuable perspective on why gaming matters.

Games offer an escape, and as they get more sophisticated, more people will invest time and money in crafting their online identity as well as look to find ways to bridge the gap between their online selves and their selves in the real world. Over time, these digital identities will continue to be a greater part of us and also bring some real-world implications for products and services that can help us bring these various identities together.
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