Profile of Americans using gaming PCs

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, October 9, 2021

Profile of Americans using gaming PCs

  • All online American adults who regularly use a gaming PC
    • They number 25.3 million – 12% of all online American adults
    • Defined as using a “Gaming desktop or gaming notebook – designed for playing video games, such as with special video cards and extra memory”
  • Profiled by characteristics that are distinctive
    • Only profiled by those characteristics which have an index of 80 or below and 120 and above – those which are 20% above or below the average by category 
  • Expressed as market penetration – the percentage of online adults within each group
  • Distinctive characteristics profiles
    • Age, gender, age within gender
    • Employment status
    • Presence of children
    • Household size
    • Life stage (age, employment status, presence of children)
    • Number of home PCs used
    • Technology ecosystems
  • Characteristics examined and not found to be distinct
    • Educational attainment

Americans who regularly use a gaming PC by age group

  • Gaming PC users skew younger
    • Game console use is strongest among the youngest American adults – aged 18-44
    • Penetration among online Americans aged 18-44 is 19%-20%
  • Beyond age 45, the rate drops steeply
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Technology ecosystem device penetration by country, age, and employment status

One measure of an ecosystem’s breadth is its market penetration. This MetaFAQs splits out the percentage of online adults using major OS families and form factors – such as Windows PCs and iPhones – by country and by age and employment status.

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Top activities across platforms [TUPdate]

There are certain activities that transcend form factors, such that they are popular with every type. This TUPdate identifies regular activities that are high on the list for smartphones, PCs, and tablets, those popular on two of the three, or unique to one type.

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Windows leads what Apple and Google divide [MetaFAQs]

Windows, Apple, and Google (Android, Chromebook) are each stronger or weaker by form factor and country. This MetaFAQs reports on the share of each OS ecosystem by country and within the US, by age group.

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Juggling work and devices to get things done [TUPdate]

During the pandemic, employees have scrambled to be able to work from home, often using their personal devices in lieu of employer-provided technology products. This TUPdate reports on the specific work-related activities regularly done by employees that do and don’t work from home using their smartphones, home PCs, work PCs, and tablets.

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Key ecosystems penetration [MetaFAQs]

The market penetration of Windows OS, Apple OS, and Google OS devices varies considerably by country. This MetaFAQs reports on each OS ecosystem’s active market penetration and splits out American users by age group.

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Communication distinctive for remote workers [TUPdate]

Working from home requires more communication than ever, both a broad range of devices (smartphones, computers, tablets), and types (calls, messages, meetings with and without video). Employees working from home use computers for different communication activities than they do with smartphones. This TUPdate compares a detailed list of communication activities among those working from home and those not working from home, and also identifies which devices – PCs, smartphones, or others – are used the most for communication by work from home status.

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For most, PCs are first for connecting

Worldwide, smartphones have grown to be the primary device used the most by nearly half of online adults. Among American adults, PC usage continues to lead, although the gap has narrowed.

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