Reasons for new U.S. gamers to start playing video games 2021, by age group

Published by

Jul 18, 2025

An April 2021 survey found that a significant share of gamers in the United States had started playing games within the last year. When being asked about the main reasons for this, responses varied. Overall,

percent of respondents stated that they picked up gaming because they liked being challenged, and an additional

percent were looking for more ways to be entertained.

Reasons for new gamers in the United States to start playing video games within the last year as of April 2021, by age group

Characteristic	GenPop	18-34	35-54
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In cooperation with

Vorhaus Advisors

Release date

July 2021

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

March 31 to April 8, 2021

Number of respondents

468 respondents

Age group

18 years and older

Special properties

among those who started playing games on at least 1 platform within the last year

Method of interview

Online survey

Supplementary notes

Original question: For the platform(s) that you started playing games on within the last year, why did you start playing?
Multiple answers were possible.

Citation formats

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