Demographics and Play Factors

Below is a more in-depth look at the impact of demographic factors on play behavior discussed in Project 5: Demographics and Play in the US.

This project was completed with data from in addition to data collected through the US Census American Community Survey. Please note that analyses are based on data collected in the first three months of 2022.

This project looks at how demographic factors influence both total hours played among video game players and the number of “heavy” players per 1000 in a population across a sample of US cities. The analysis below details city-specific and state-specific details and dynamics. Heavy play here is defined as playing a game for 6 or more days during the week for more than 4 hours per day on average.

Beyond demographic factors like poverty and income, which could relate to purchasing power when it comes to video games and access, one of the biggest impacts on total hours played and heavy play per 1000 in a population is related to the percentage of people with disabilities in a particular population. This has important implications for video game design, considering that accessibility in design can help support and tap into this market.

As part of the analysis for this project, a number of demographic factors were considered in terms of their potential impact on play. This included percentage of poverty, average income, average bachelor's degree attainment, employment percentage, and disability percentage. Among these factors, however, most economic elements had little impact on total hours played in a population or heavy play per 1000 in a population.

The interactive graphic above shows the distributions of disability percentage, heavy play per 1000, and total aggregated hours played in each city sampled sorted by state below. Hover over the plots to see the measures for each specific city.

There is a strong relationship between disability percentage in the population and play dynamics. For example, disability percentage explains about 5% of the variation of total hours played in a population. Further, it explains about 7% of the variation in how many heavy players we see per 1000 in the population.

The above visualization provides a sortable overview of total hours played, heavy per 1000 in a population, and disability percentage in the population. The graph can be sorted by hours and heavy per 1000, highlighting the relationship between these factors and higher percentages of disability. Each bar can be hovered over for additional information about each state.

The bubble chart below explores this relationship further. Hover over each point to see more details on each city.

This chart shows the impact of disability percentage for most cities in terms of heavy play per 1000 in a population. For most cities, there is a clear relationship between disability percentage and heavy play per 1000 people in a population. While there are some exceptions to this, this fits with the 7% variation explained by disability percentage in a population.

Demographic factors have not been deeply investigated in terms of their impact on video game play. While some studies have noted specific engagement among disabled populations, for example, there was a lack of information about the impact of disability on play in a population or the influence of other demographic factors on this.

The present study highlights the impact that disability percentage in a population has on overall play behaviors. While other demographic factors have less impact than might be expected, disability accounts for a significant proportion of total hours played and heavy players per 1000 in a population. This suggests that game developers and video game companies should take this into account in terms of video game design. Because disability percentage is correlated with more time spent on play and more heavy players in a population, accessibility of a video game can impact an important segment of the player population.

To keep up with trends in behaviors, refer to other projects currently underway!