Survey Reveals Majority Of Gamers Over 50 Feel Like An Afterthought Of The Gaming Industry

A recent survey conducted by AARP Research has revealed that gamers over the age of 50 feel like an afterthought of the gaming industry. The research conducted by AARP specifically highlighted the significant contribution of this older group of gamers to the gaming industry and how they are hugely neglected by the developers while designing the latest games.

The research concluded that 69% of 50-plus gamers (every seven out of 10) are convinced that the latest games are not designed with them in mind. Another 50% said that video games are developed with no consideration for gamers 50 plus. Many older adult gamers were not happy with the difficulty level of modern games and said that they are too hard to understand at times.

Some features like having a selection of difficulty settings are important to them, and they find push notifications and forced adverts in games to be highly annoying. Some gamers over the age of 50 also expressed their need for a tutorial within games. The need for a tutorial relative specifically to older adult gamers sounds like an idea that would better help this generation feel included and connected.

The age gap between gamers is continuing to grow, ranging from older people that grew up with games, to the newer generations experiencing them for the first time. However, gamers of 50 believe that the newest releases aren’t meant for them and that they’re becoming an afterthought in the development process. This substantially raises concerns over modern development standards and their inclusion processes.

Moving forward, the survey revealed that, now numbering a significant 52.4 million, gamers over 50 are embracing the hobby because they see it as a productive use of their free time. The survey showed that elder gamers invest an average of 12 hours per week and spend $49 over the course of six months on their favorite games.

This ongoing interest in gaming among older individuals could result in biannual spending on digital and physical game content of $2.5 billion in 2023, which is quite considerable and its time developers acknowledge this generation while designing games. Moving on, we all have seen drastic improvements in the accessibility settings of the latest games.

Thanks to some of the developers’ keen consideration though, we saw a blind person beating God Of War Ragnarok, which is a fairly challenging game. Moreover, Forza Motorsport has been deemed a highly accessible title, allowing a completely visually impaired player to enjoy the racing simulator diligently.

The most accessible @ForzaMotorsport ever.

Accessibility consultant @superblindman shares how he masters hairpin turns using Blind Driving Assists: https://t.co/99wTelS8TB pic.twitter.com/6MJZo0mnQo

— Xbox (@Xbox) April 27, 2023

For more information, AARP has also published a 68-page extensive report based on the survey titled “THE 50-PLUS GAMER OF TODAY AND TOMORROW,” which you can read here.