A new IFSE report has been published that states that 40 per cent of the UK's online population played video games last year. 46% of these gamers are female, and 43% of parents play games with their children, the report reveals.
Headlines from the report (which can be viewed here) include:
40% of the UK's online population aged 16 to 64 years old have played games in the last year
46% of these people are female
Online now matches packaged as the preferred form of gaming for the online population of UK
43% of parents play games with their children
The majority of children aged 6-15 are buying or receiving games
And people who play games seem to be more sociable and sporty than others; being more likely to be interested in ‘going out to bars and clubs' (50% vs. 38% non-gamers) and ‘taking part in sport' (42% vs. 34% non-gamers)
1307 people were questioned regarding their gaming habits for the survey, and the report is part of a wider European study into the "societal context in which games are being played today".
Ukie CEO, Dr Jo Twist, said of the report: "We know that more people than ever are playing games and this report backs that up, with 40% of the online population of the UK now regularly playing games, and nearly half of them are female."
"The survey also really shows the ever growing acceptance of games as an everyday pastime. This is also being seen politically; over the last two weeks we've held meetings with 11 senior politicians from the major political parties and all of them had a very positive view of what games could offer society and the economy, giving us more scope to build on our recent political wins of tax breaks and getting children coding."