Two-thirds of Americans play an hour or more of video games per week, according to a new report published Wednesday by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).
Per the gaming industry lobbying organization, 212.3 million people in the U.S. between the ages of 5 and 90 play video games every week. That stat, found in ESA’s 2026 Essential Facts About the U.S. Video Game Industry, is up 3% (or 7.2 million people) compared to the prior year’s report.
Conducted in partnership with YouGov, ESA’s new report found that the average age of players has risen to 37.
Additionally, the data shows that 63% of players surveyed say video games “deliver the most entertainment value for their money, compared to video streaming services for music, TV and movies, as well as books, magazines and news articles.”
The results also found that 39% of adult gamers are employed full-time and 35% have children, making them more represented in both categories compared to the general U.S. population, which stands at 34% and 30%, respectively.
“There are a lot of small nuggets, which are pretty interesting, in the report. For example, the level of employment and the engagement that people who play games have in society,” ESA president and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis told Variety. “I think one of the things we’re trying to do with these reports is to grow the understanding of the impact games have in society. There’s a perception people had 10, 15, 20 years ago, around games, and when you look at the actual facts about who today’s gamer is, whether you call it a gamer or someone who loves playing games, we are really mainstream. We are really part of every part of society. We are part of the fabric of society, and data like the Essential Facts Report allow us to not only make that claim but to produce data that supports the fact that games are a part of the fabric of society.”
ESA’s selected topline data points from its 2026 Essential Facts About the U.S. Video Game Industry report include: