AARP study shows that over-50 gamers flock to Switch, Wii
Grandma gets her game on
Nintendo has shared the age range breakdown for Switch owners a few times over now, and we’ve seen that the system has quite a wide base of players across all ages. Now, thanks to a study from AARP, we know that the 50-and-over crowd is particular fond of Nintendo.
According to AARP Research, 52.4 million Americans who are 50 or older play games at least once a month. This 52 million figure accounts for 45% of all Americans who are 50-and-over, making for quite an impressive stat.
As you can see in the chart above, those 50-and-over have quite the affinity for Nintendo, as their most-owned platform is the Wii, with the Switch coming in right behind it. That certainly makes sense, as Nintendo has reached for the same wide audience with Switch as they did Wii. The Wii obviously has a few years on Switch in terms of availability, so it will be interesting to see where Switch ends up when all is said and done.
AARP Research used NORC’s Foresight 50-plus Panel to survey a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults ages 40-plus who own a gaming-eligible device and play video games on that device at least once a month. The survey was conducted June 23, 2022 to July 13, 2022. Data were weighted using population benchmarks from NORC’s population survey for age, gender, division, race/ethnicity, education, housing tenure, household phone status, age x gender and age x race/ethnicity. Survey length — median gamers (32 min.); nongamers (7 min.). Sample = 7,885 completes (5,953 50-plus gamers/2,630 40-plus nongamers).
If you’d like to get the full AARP Research study, you can find it here.
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RMC, pretty sure you and I are in the same age demo. Wii was SEVENTEEN years ago (!!), and it feels like no time went by. I'm only 14 years from that "over 50" demo. I guess you and I better keep our Wii and our Switch hooked up to the TV because AARP is going to be swinging by our retirement home any time now.
jake_a
12M agoI believe it. My dad, now in his late 60s, finally got a Switch this past February and has been enjoying Breath of the Wild. There is a couple that are friends of the family that also are in their 60s and play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe together. And my friend's mom, probably in her 50s, plays all sorts of games like Animal Crossing.
I probably have a few more examples that I am forgetting about. But it is just so exciting to share a passion and hobby across multiple generations.
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