Gaming In Australia: Are We Worlds Apart from the World?

Australia is certainly playing games, and it seems like almost everyone is involved. Men and women of all ages enjoy playing games for a multitude of cited reasons, including “improving their thinking skills”, “improving their co-ordination”, and keeping them mentally stimulated. There’s also the simple fact that games are fun and enjoyable, and they help to pass the time.

According to statistics published for 2016, gaming is taking place across the board. 68% of households actually play video games, and there’s good news for us women – almost half, at 47% are actually women. Where children are present, 98% of homes actually have computer games in them. However, this can become a real family affair, with 90% of adults saying that they take the time to play with their children.

How Do We Compare to the UK?

It’s not just video games, here. While gambling tends to take place in casinos in Australia, you can play a range of online casino games to play for real money in the UK – in fact, figures show that online gambling is the largest gambling sector in Britain. It’s worth mentioning this upfront, as it’s highly popular.

The male and female divide when it comes to games in general is quite evenly split, with 48% of all UK gamers being women.

Trends are often similar, although when it comes to the facts and figures about parents playing with their children, there isn’t much UK data available. However, research from Futurelab does suggest that 82% of parents have played with their children.
How Do We Compare to the USA?

Like Australia and the United Kingdom, a lot of players in the US are women! However, this must come as some shock to American players, as the statistics show that although 48% of players are women, 60% of people believe that the vast majority of players are still men. While this is still technically true, the gap is actually very small, just as it is here in Australia.

When it comes to getting children involved, American parents are diligent about this as well. Although fewer parents are playing with their children at least weekly (59% compared to 90% in Australia), this may be because more of them insist on being present when their children buy games. At the point of sale, 91% of parents are present to oversee the transaction, as opposed to just 57% of Australian parents. As there is only slight variation here, perhaps this is where the tables are turned. Australian parents are less likely to be present with their children, but only because they’re more likely to see what’s being played when the games are on.

Online gambling in the USA is growing year-on-year, too, with figures from SuperData Research showing that trends are being bucked in this area as well. 57% of online gamblers were female, although not all played for real money. They tend to be young, too, with over 40% aged between 21 and 34.

What Can We Learn From this?

As Australians, our leisure activities don’t seem so drastically dissimilar to our overseas counterparts. And, despite stereotypes, women are almost as likely to enjoy various kinds of games as men.

When it comes to children, many different nationalities recognise the benefits of gaming for children. But we can see in the stats that a lot of parents realise they have a responsibility to ensure their kids are only playing age-appropriate games, and in doing so, are encouraging responsible gaming.

And, when it comes to online gambling, Australia is busy in the land casinos. But this industry is alive and well in the USA and UK, and will only keep growing.