The Players They are A-Changin': The Rise of Older MMO Gamers

Abstract

To learn more about demographic characteristics, play behaviors, and motivations of massively multiplayer online gamers over the age of 50, researchers administered a questionnaire to 32,261 Wizard101 subscribers. Cross-referencing responses with behavioral data recorded by game servers, researchers found that older players were significantly more likely to be women. Older players played longer and underestimated their playtime, they were less likely to play on console and hand-held systems, and they were less likely to cite social, achievement, and player versus player combat motivations. However, older online gamers were more likely to cite self-growth and learning motivations for game play than those under 50.

Notes

¹In this study, the term “older gamers” refers to all players over the age of 50. Recognizing that this term lumps together many different stages of the life cycle (Neighbour, 1985), this study merely uses the phrase as a relative marker within the context of the gaming community.