86% of Australian gamer parents play with their kids

The Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) has conducted research into the role of interactive entertainment in Australian households. The numbers may surprise you, especially when you consider that 93% of homes have a device for playing games.

According to the report, people typically play daily, with the average adult having played games for 11 years. The gender gap is small in Australia; 81% of mothers and 83% of fathers play video games, with 86% of those gamer parents playing games with their children. The dads tend to play more on consoles while mom play on PCs and mobile. However, only 63% are familiar with game classifications. Really? How can people still find classifications confusing, especially when they follow similar ratings to movies? That said, only 10% said classification had a lot of influence on games purchased for themselves, while 44% said it had a lot of influence on games purchased for children.

I like the difference between PC and console gamers compared to mobile gamers in the study. According to the IGEA research, those who play mobile games do so the pass the time, while those who play PC and console games do so for fun. I think this is probably true worldwide – mobile games are vaguely entertaining time sinks, while ‘real’ games are for fun entertainment.

It just makes me happy to see that 65% of Australians play video games, and 98% of homes with children under 18 have a device for playing computer games. That’s a lot of gamers. Maybe one day they can exert some power and stop having games banned and censored – it’s time to reassess those outdated laws.

For those of you like me who love a good info graphic, here you go – the results in an easily accessible form:

Last Updated: October 21, 2013