A new report by Data.ai breaks down the performance of different genres among different demographics throughout 2022, and how those preferences changes from market to market.
In the United States, gamers between 18 and 24 showed a strong preference for battle royale and mobile titles, while genres such as solitaire, slots, and match-3 struggled to engage this valuable demographic. Interestingly, this result is inverted with gamers above 45, who greatly prefer these genres, while eschewing genres more popular with younger markets.
US gamers aged 25-34 and 35-44 fall between both aforementioned demographics, with only one exception: Location RPG, where gamers between 35 and 44 proved to be the largest audience.
While genre preferences change from market to market, there’s a universal trend of the older and younger age groups dominating the high and low ends of the spectrum, with few, if any, deviations. Younger gamers worldwide seem particularly drawn to party, simulation games, and shooters, whereas older players are more inclined to play slots, and puzzle games.
Battle of the sexes
The report also delves into the performance of different genres among male and female players, with sports, strategy, and shooting titles preferred by men while women skew towards match-3 and puzzle titles.
In the US, MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) is identified as the single most popular genre among men, followed closely by Build-Battle, while these genres are shown to be the least popular among women. In contrast, match-3 games led the way among women, followed by word games, while these probed to be the least popular genres among men.
Interestingly, every market included in the study shows an adverse relationship between the games preferred by both genders. Although gaming has historically been considered a male-skewing hobby, it appears that, at least within the mobile space, there remains a stark separation over which genres are more popular with each gender.
A Newzoo report published in September examines female gamers, finding that mobile is the most popular platform among the demographic.
