Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Teens and Video Games Today
Teens compete in a video game tournament at the Portland Public Library in Maine in 2018. (Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
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- Teens and Video Games Today
- Most teens play video games, and 4 in 10 identify as gamers
- Most teen boys and girls play video games, but boys are far more likely to identify as gamers
- How we asked teens in our survey if they play video games and identify as gamers
- About 6 in 10 teen boys play video games daily
- Most teens play video games on a console or smartphone, 24% do so on a virtual reality headset
- Teen boys are more likely than girls to play video games on all devices except tablets
- Teen gamers are far more likely to use Discord and Twitch than other teens
- Teens most commonly say they spend the right amount of time playing video games
- About 4 in 10 teens have cut back on how much they play video games
- Most teens who play video games do so with others; about half made a friend through them
- Teen boys who play video games are more likely than girls to make friends over video games
- More than half of teens who play video games say it helps their problem-solving skills, but many say it negatively impacts the amount of sleep they get
- Boys who play video games are more likely than girls to think it helps friendships, problem-solving, ability to work with others
- Most common reason teens play video games is entertainment
- Teen gamers are especially likely to say spending time and competing with others are reasons why they play
- About half of teen boys who play video games say they have been called an offensive name while playing
- Most teens say that bullying while playing video games is a problem for people their age
- About 7 in 10 teen boys who play video games say there is violence in at least some of the games they play
- Share of U.S. teens who play video games, by demographic group
- Share of U.S. teens who identify as gamers, by demographic group
- Share of U.S. teens who play video games daily, by demographic group
- Invitation and reminder dates
- Weighting dimensions
- The unweighted sample sizes and the error attributable to sampling
- Dispositions and response rates
- About 7 in 10 teen boys who play video games say there is violence in at least some of the games they play
- Teens most commonly say they spend the right amount of time playing video games
- More than half of teens who play video games say it helps their problem-solving skills, but many say it negatively impacts the amount of sleep they get
- Teen gamers are especially likely to say spending time and competing with others are reasons why they play