49 Video Game Addiction Statistics: Most Addictive Games - MPower Wellness (2024)

Key Video Game Addiction Statistics To Know

• There are over two billion people in the world playing video games. with the number expected to pass three billion sometime in 2023. Up to 4% of gamers are currently addicted to playing video games.
• In a 2021 evaluation, it was found that the worldwide prevalence of gaming disorder is 3.05%.
• There are around 60 million people that currently have gaming disorder.
• Between 0.3% and 1% of people in the general public have symptoms that are commonly found among people with gaming disorder.
• 49% of adults in the United States have played video games, yet just 10% consider themselves to be avid gamers.
• Studies reveal that men like to play video games more than video do.
• Dopamine rises in humans that play video games, However, 90% of people that play games don’t take part in behavior that could negatively damage their health.
• The COVID-19 pandemic caused a 39% increase in the worldwide average time spend gaming.
• Symptoms associated with ADHD are closely connected with different levels of video game addictions.
• In 2019, the worldwide prevalence of gaming disorder reached 3%.
• In the United States, the average time that someone spends playing video games is 7.71 hours each week.
• Between 0.3% and 1% of the general public display signs of internet gaming disorder.
• During the 2020 lockdowns, about 30% of British people skipped eating food and showering just to play a video game.
• On weekdays Chinese children aren’t allowed to play video games for longer than 90 minutes.
• In 2019, the worldwide prevalence of gaming disorders grew by 3%. Prevalence rates were found in numerous studies that were done between 2009 and 2019, whereby 226,247 people from 17 took part in a survey.
• Alternative studies put the prevalence of gaming disorders at 1.96% instead of 3%.
• Men are more likely to develop a gaming disorder than women, where current rates are 2.5:1 for men over women.
• At the beginning of 2021, the average amount of time Americans spent playing video games was 7.71 hours each week.
• China has the largest average time spent playing video games, around 12.39 hours each week.
• Vietnamese gamers spend the second most time on video games each week, averaging 10.16 weekly hours. The worldwide average is 8.45 weekly hours.
• Based on statistics in 2017, there are more than 22% of American gamers spend between 61% and 80% of their time playing video multiplayer games online with a personal computer.
• Between 90% and 99% of American kids play video games
• There is between 48% and 56% of young adults engaging with video games regularly.
• The average age of a person that’s considered a gamer is 35 years old. The average age of someone with a gaming addiction is 24 years old.
• Most gamers are between the average age of 18 and 34.
• 8% of kids and adolescents that are younger than 18 throughout the world could be addicted to playing video games.
• The prevalence of video game addiction for teenagers has risen by 4% since the year 2007.

Most Addictive Video Games

• Rocket League is considered to be the most addictive video game currently, with 14.53% of reviewers deeming it addictive.
• Littlewood is second, with 12.50% of reviewers considering it to be addictive.
• Demigod is third, with 10.77% of reviewers using the term addictive in their reviews.
• Stardew Valley ranks fourth most addictive, with 6.67% using the term addictive to describe the game.
• The fifth most addictive game is League of Legends, with 4.28% considering it to be addictive.
• Frostpunk – 3.89%
• Path of Exile – 3.60%
• My Time at Portia – 3.33%
• Fortnite – 2.59%
• PlanetSide 2 – 2.38%
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege – 2.02%
• Dota 2 – 1.68%
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 1.58%
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – 1.35%
• Fallout 3 – 1.28%
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – 1.27%
• Call of Duty Black Ops 3 – 1.22%
• Smite – 1.16%
• The Sims 4 – 0.97%
• Rust – 0.92%

Most Addictive Video Game Genres

• Different games vary in their addictiveness. Massively multiplayer online role-playing games, MMORPG are the most addictive, with 21% spend playing 20 hours each week on the game itself.
• Multiplayer online battle arenas – 21%
• Massively multiplayer online games – 19%
• Role-playing games – 18%
• Shooters – 16%

Video Game Addiction Demographics

• 67% of white non-Hispanics play video games.
• 15% of gamers are Hispanic, 12% are black in America, and 5% are Asian.

Which Age Group Is Most Addicted To Gaming?

• The age group most at risk of getting addicted to playing video games is adults between 18 and 34 years old.

Which Gender Is Most Addicted To Gaming?

• When reviewing gaming disorder states based on gender, 945 gaming addicts are male, with 6% being female. Although the number of both men and women isn’t the same, the majority of gaming addicts to come will likely be men.

Which Race Is Most Addicted To Gaming?

• White non-HIspanics represent 67% of gamers in the United States. They also represent 69% of gaming addicts in the country. 13% of gaming addicts are Asian and 18% are in the Other category consisting of multiple ethnicities.

Which Country Is Most Addicted To Gaming?

• Iran has one of the highest prevalence rates of video game addiction. There are 22.8% of people in the country classified as being addicted to video games of some kind.
• Video game addiction is also high in the United Arab Emirates. The Health Department in the country recommends that parents restrict gaming to children to less than two hours per day.
• On average, Emirati children spend over four hours each day playing games.
• In a 2015 report, researchers learned that between 56% and 63% of Emirati, children spend three hours or more playing video games every day, or taking part in other activities related to video games shown on their televisions.
• 50% of all Emirati gamers claim to spend more time playing video games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the country, there’s also a 15% rise in new gamers, with 40% being female.
• Most gamers in the United Arab Emirates, between 70% and 74%, play games on their mobile phones. Some gamers also play video games on consoles and PC. There are around 91% of Emirati gamers have to spent money on in-game purchases within the last six months, showing a link between gambling and playing games.
• Up to 50% of people in the UAE spent their time playing games during the COVID-19 lockdowns, with most of them being applications on their mobile phones.
• More people in the UAE watch gaming streams than in any other country as well. Nearly 68% of Emirati gamers look at live streams of different people playing games, which could cause various health issues and raise the chances of playing video games repeatedly.

How Many People Are Addicted To Video Games?

In 2021, a review showed that between 3% and 4% of gamers around the world are addicted to video games, with as high as 60 million people having gaming addictions.

How Many Kids In The U.S. Are Addicted To Video Games?

As there are 150 million to 231 million gamers in the US, along with a 1.96% to 3% prevalence worldwide in gaming disorder, there are up to 6 million people with gaming disorder in the US alone.

What Percent Of Kids Are Addicted To Video Games?

8.5% of kids and adolescents that are under 18 throughout the world could be addicted to playing video games.

How Many Hours Of Video Games Is An Addiction?

For video game play to be classified as addictive, one must engage in them for at least 15 to 20 hours each week or more. This amounts to an average of three hours each day. This sort of play can cause lasting damage to the health and well-being of people, including their relationships and productivity.

Why Are Video Games Addictive?

Video games are addictive due to the dopamine they release in response to having a pleasurable experience, which is closely associated with hyper and sexual arousal in adults. If someone experiences hyperarousal during gameplay, the brain will begin to correlate such activities with dopamine and release it when engaged in a game. This is also similar to someone eating their favorite foods and listening to their favorite music, among other things.

What Percent Of Parents Think Video Games Are Bad?

42% of parents that live with people playing video games daily report that it negatively impacts the mood of their children. For parents with teens that play less, only 32% consider it to be detrimental to their child’s health. This shows that when parents manage to control their child’s time spent playing video games, substitute it with other activities such as leisure time spent outside, or find other home alternatives, video game addiction is likely to gradually subside.