Bottom line: A nationwide apartment search website called RENTCafe surveyed 4,750 adults and found that people spent an average of one full workday per week playing video games during the two-and-a-half-month shutdown. Respondents put in more than 110 hours of gaming while stuck at home.
Without a doubt, gamers spent more time playing games during the coronavirus lockdown. It was fairly evident from the amount of content that continued to flow throughout the epidemic despite some unfortunate delays for highly anticipated titles. But just how much time did we spend gaming, and what did we play?
According to RENTCafe's study, nearly everyone questioned admitted that they spent more time playing games than they did before the quarantine. In fact, average playtime went from 5.3 hours to 8.5 hours per week (h/w), a 60-percent bump. Of the five demographics sampled, Gen-Xers had the most significant increase in gaming time, going from 4.5 to 7.9 h/w. However, the 18-25 demographic (Gen Z) spent the most time, gamepad in hand, at 8.7 hours per week.
The overall genre of choice was first-person shooters with Call of Duty being the preferred title. The younger age brackets predominantly played the shooters while the older crowd preferred more casual experiences like Candy Crush or casino-style games. Somewhat surprisingly, Fortnite came in third in popularity among the respondents. It was upset by mega-hit Animal Crossing, which has only been out for a few months.
Spending on games was up as well. All five age groups admitted to spending more money on games than usual. Millennials were the ballers, with 81 percent saying they purchased titles or spend money on in-game transactions. Perhaps not unexpected, Baby Boomers (56 and older) were the thriftiest when it came to gaming, with 68 percent saying they didn't spend a dime on games.
If you are interested in the rest of the findings, RENTCafe has them along with infographics posted in its blog.