Never Too Old to Play: The Appeal of Digital Games to an Older Audience

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the use of digital games among older adults and provide a set of ‘‘benchmark data’’ with respect to the uses and gratifications of these players. To find out who these older players of digital games are, what games they prefer, and what playing motives they have, an exploratory survey was administered among 124 individuals aged between 45 and 85 years old. The results of this survey confirm that the majority of the older digital game audience exists of solitary players with a particular fondness for casual PC games. The most popular playing motive among the respondents was challenge, while social interaction proved to be the most important predictor for the time that respondents invested in playing digital games.