Video game players become less competitive with age, study shows

A new Quantic Foundry study looking at the gaming motivations of different generations has found that competitive gaming belongs to the young, and strategy games belong to everyone. 

By collecting data from over 140,000 players using a Gamer Motivation Profile, Quantic found that interest in competition declines the most with age. 

In Quantic's framework "competition" is defined as "the appeal of competing with other players in duels, matches, or team-vs-team scenarios," and while that appeals to players, mainly male, between the ages of 15-25, as they get older their interest tapers off significantly. 

Although the decline - shown in the graph below - happens more rapidly for men than women, by the time both genders turn 45 the difference in interest is miniscule. 

Quantic also highlights that the biggest gap between young male and female players is smaller than the gap between the youngest and oldest males, suggesting age, rather than gender, does more to influence interest in competitive gaming. 

Although the study found that most gaming motivations decline with age, strategy games were the most age-stable, with players across the entire age spectrum all showing a similar desire to play titles in that genre.

There was also a clear gender difference with regards to strategy titles, with men consistently indicating a higher level of enjoyment than women. 

For further analysis and findings check out the Quantic Foundry website.