According to the new report published by the Association of Entertainment Software, women make up a little less than half of the gamers around the world.
Report “Global Power of the Game” for 2025 It was compiled in cooperation with trade associations on six continents, including UKIE, Video Games Europe and the International Association of Games and Entertainment (Igea) in Australia and New Zealand.
The report is compiled for the second time and includes the results of a survey 24 216 active (weekly) players over 16 years old in 21 countries.
The results were compared by the global research company Audiencenet.
ESA President Stanley Pierre Louis tells more about the global gender ratio of players. GamesindUstry.biz that “in 10 out of 21 countries, there are more female players than male players, and in two countries the ratio of 50/50”.
Two of these countries included Brazil (57% of women and 43% of men) and South Africa (58% of women and 41% of men).
“Although mobile devices are an unconditionally preferred device for women (64% play on mobile devices), almost half of men play games on mobile devices, and these are also their most commonly used device-therefore, the gap is not as large as people suggest,” says Pierre Louis.
In general, 55% of players prefer mobile devices, and 21% of respondents prefer to play on a PC or laptop, as well as on consoles and portable devices.
When Eka prepared its first report “Global Power of the Game” in 2023, the sample size was only 12 countries. Pierre Lyuis emphasizes the importance of increasing this number, so that it “tells the exact and full story” of gamers around the world.
“When we decided to conduct another global study this year, we sought to attract more countries and votes from all continents to participate,” he explains.
“We worked with Audiencenet to determine additional countries in order to cover more the population of the world and feel that the word“ global ”was more accurate than our first report in 2023, but at the same time was not excessive in costs and time.”
“When we decided to conduct another global survey this year, we sought to attract more countries and votes from all continents to participate”
Returning to the conclusions of the report, ESA determined that “entertainment” was the most important cause for games (66%), it followed the relief of stress (58%) and mental stimulation (45%).
Speaking about the benefits for the mind, the players also shared the most important skills, which, in their opinion, can be improved by playing video games.
The improvement of creative abilities was in the first place in 77%, while the solution to the problems was important for 76%of the respondents, it followed the skills of teamwork and cooperation in 74%.
ESA noted that “adaptability, critical thinking and communication skills” also gained high grades among respondents.
In other countries, half of the players around the world stated that the games “directly improved their professional level and education thanks to technical and behavioral skills.” Less than half of the respondents said that the games “influenced their career or educational path.”
In general, Pierre Louis hopes that the report of the ECA Global Games Power for 2025 will demonstrate the “positive influence of games that go beyond the amusement.”
“The gameplay is united by families of representatives of different generations, doctors use games and gaming technologies for treatment and therapy, and creative work and industry technology affects almost all industries: from entertainment to retail trade, from sports to fashion,” Pierre Louis explains.
“I hope that this report will dispel some obsolete and unsuccessful stereotypes about who plays the games and shed bright light on the huge advantages available to the players.”
He concludes: “In the end, we want people to remember that billions of people around the world play video games, and although they play different games and on different devices, everyone can feel the advantages of the game because the games are good.”
