Unsurprisingly given the disparity between the playing habits of teens and adults, gaming becomes less common among adults as age increases. While just over half of adults play games, 81 percent of adults age 18 to 29 play games -- a proportion that drops to 12 percent among those 65 years of age or older. That said, amongst that 12 percent of 65-plus gamers, over a third of them play games every day or or nearly every day, whereas that statistic for all other surveyed age groups fell between 19 and 21 percent. Pew postulates that the increased proportion of retirees among that age group contributes to the trend.
Older gamers are also more likely to play games on PC as opposed to consoles. Among adult gamers, proportional PC usage steadily increases from the 18-29 age group, to 30-49, to 50-64, reaching a high of 83 percent, then slightly dropping off for 65-plus. Meanwhile, console usage drops in parallel to a low of 23 percent.
Interestingly, parents were 10 percent more likely to play PC games than non-parents, and a whopping 19 percent more likely to play console games than non-parents; similar gains were realized even with handheld consoles and other portable systems like cell phones. As a footnote, despite 9 percent of gamers (and 21 percent of teen gamers) claiming experience playing MMOs, a mere 2 percent of gamers reported entering virtual worlds like Second Life.