Divided gamers: clear generational differences in preferences

A study has found a clear connection between gamers’ age and their preference for single-player games. According to the results, there is a clear generational difference. Younger and older players prefer different experiences.

Diverse players, diverse interests

Gamers are no longer as homogeneous a mass as they were in the early 90s or 2000s. Video games have now reached all levels of society. It’s no longer just ‘pubescent men’ who are interested in Mario, Kratos or Master Chief.

Due to the diverse player base, there are also different interests and preferences. As a new survey has now found out, age plays a decisive role when it comes to the question “Single player or multiplayer?” goes.

Study asks gamers about preferences

For the large-scale study of Midia Research A total of 9,000 players from various countries such as the USA, Great Britain, South Korea and Germany were surveyed. Among other things, gamers were asked whether they prefer to play single-player games or multiplayer games. There is a clear trend in the answers.

Older people prefer to play alone

The older people get, the more they prefer single-player experiences. While only around 30 percent of players between the ages of 16 and 19 prefer single-player titles, the figure for 35 to 45 year olds is around 50 percent. Of the players over the age of 55, a full 75 percent prefer to play alone. Overall, 53 percent of those surveyed prefer to travel without a companion.

Midia Research justifies the results by saying that older gamers tend to prefer the “solitude” of a solo title and place more value on a well-told story. Young players, on the other hand, would be more attracted to the thrill of a competitive multiplayer format. They are also more used to meeting friends or strangers online and interacting socially.

No more single players soon?

It would be interesting to see if the preference of today’s young gamers shifts towards single player experiences as they get older. Then the corresponding preference would actually have something to do with age. However, it could also be that fans of single-player titles are slowly dying out. It is possible that up-and-coming gamers who grew up with multiplayer games generally prefer to play with their friends and that this will continue to be the case as they get older.

A number of developers are already relying on live service multiplayer games rather than single-player titles. Because there you can potentially earn more money with content updates, seasons and in-game shops. However, the market is now saturated and the risk of failure is high. This recently became apparent with Sony Concord fiasco.

What do you all mean? Are lovers of single-player games slowly dying out? Or will the young gamers who enjoy multiplayer titles today become more interested in single-player experiences as they grow older?

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