“The French and the Video Game”, the annual consumer study by Médiamétrie for the SELL (Syndicate of Leisure Software Publishers) deciphers, on the occasion of Paris Games Week, the gaming practices of the French.
While France has more than 37 million at least occasional players (71%), 3 in 4 French people consider video games to be a hobby for the whole family. The average age of the player continues to increase to reach 40 years this year (42 years for men and 39 years for women) but the youngest age groups are the most adepts: 96% among 10 -17 years old play video games.
Parents attentive to the PEGI classification… less to parental control
A sign of the appropriation of the practice of video games within the home, 71% of parents say they are attentive to the practice of video games of their child. More than half of them supervise this practice and they are even 65% to play with their child at least occasionally. Paradoxically, if 9 out of 10 parents are aware of the existence of parental control systems, only 1 third of them use them. On the other hand, more than 1 in 2 of them pay attention to compliance with the PEGI classification system (56%) when purchasing. In the end, almost one in two adults considers that video games have a positive impact on the development of the child and 60% of the French consider it as a positive activity.
A practice of multi-media play whatever the age
The French also agree on the innovative nature of video games (87%). The sector has been able to offer gaming experiences that address the practice regardless of the platform. Also, the smartphone is today the most used medium by gamers (53%) just in front of the computer (50%) and the console connected to the television (46%).
The multiplication of game media and player profiles leads to a diversification of uses: players say they play on more than 2 media on average (2,2). Computers and tablets bring together older gamers, while TV or handheld game consoles bring together younger populations. Note also that 6% of players say they play on smartphones dedicated to gaming.
Belonging to the group to build oneself
Online gaming is gaining ground with more than a third of gamers following online sessions and even 3 out of 5 among children. Beyond the benefits of the services offered by online gaming, one in five gamers say they feel they belong to a community. As belonging to a group is essential for identity building, more young people are more likely to share this feeling: 1 in 2 children.
Very varied cultural and multimedia habits
Players go out more often and engage in more activities than Internet users in general. Players are also more connected than average on all social networks. The players are very largely consumers of videos whatever their form: streaming, VOD / SVOD or others and much more than the whole of the Net surfers. But their cultural consumption is not limited to video games since they listen to music more often (92% against 89%), read more books, comics, manga or comics (87% against 84%). They are also more likely to go to the cinema regularly (77% against 74%), to see a concert (38% against 36%) and to attend a sporting event (32% against 28%)… but also to practice a sport regularly ( 58% versus 56%).
Source: SELL / Médiamétrie study “The French and the video game”, carried out on the Internet from September 02 to 27, 2019, with a sample of 4 Internet users aged 049 and over, representative of the Internet user population living in France .
Occasional gamer: gamer who has played video games at least once a year.
Regular player: player playing at least once a week.