Etymology

The term gamer originally meant gambler, and has been in use since at least 1422, when the town laws of Walsall,
England, referred to "any dice-player, carder, tennis player, or other unlawful gamer". However, this description has
not been adopted in the United States, where it became associated with other pastimes. In the US, they made their
appearance as wargames. Wargames were originally created as a military and strategy tool. When Dungeons &
Dragons was released, it was originally marketed as a wargame, but later was described by its creators as a role-
playing game. They too called their players gamers and this is where the word changed definition from someone who
gambles to someone who plays board games and/or video games.[2]

Categories
Further information: Video game § Demographics
In the United States as of 2018, 28% of gamers are under 18, 29% are 18–35, 20% are 36-49 and 23% are over 50.
[3] In the UK as of 2014, 29% are under 18, 32% are 18-35 and 39% are over 36. [4] According to Pew Research
Center, 49% of adults have played a video game at some point in their life and those who have are more likely to let
their children or future children play. Those who play video games regularly are split roughly equally between male
and female, but men are more likely to call themselves a gamer.[5] As of 2019, the average gamer is 33 years old.[6]

Female gamer/gamer girl

Main article: Women and video games

A woman playing Go Play One in 2010

A female gamer, or gamer girl or girl gamer, is any female who regularly engages in playing video games. According
to a study conducted by the Entertainment Software Association in 2009, 40% of the game playing population is
female, and women 18 or older comprise 34% of all gamers. Also, the percentage of women playing online had risen
to 43%, up 4% from 2004. The same study shows that 48% of game purchasers are female.[7][4] According to a 2015
Pew survey, 6% of women in the United States identify as gamers, compared to 15% of men, and 48% of women
and 50% of men play video games.[8] Usage of the term "girl gamer" is controversial. Some critics have advocated
use of the label as a reappropriated term, while others see it as nondescriptive or perpetuating the minority position
of female gamers. Some critics of the term believe there is no singular definition of a female gamer and that they are
as diverse as any other group. However it is generally understood that the term "girl gamer" implies that it is a girl
who plays video games.[9]

Psychology
Main article: Learning curve § Difficulty curves in video games
Shigeru Miyamoto says that "I think that first a game needs a sense of accomplishment. And you have to have a
sense that you have done something, so that you get that sense of satisfaction of completing something." [10]
Gaming is a form of escapism.[11] Hideo Kojima states that "If the player isn't tricked into believing that the world is
real, then there's no point in making the game."[12]
In April 2020, researchers found that top gamers shared the same mental toughness as Olympian athletes.[13][14]
Escapism in gaming is a major factor in why individuals have falling in love with gaming. This idea of being in another
world while gaming has become very common with gamers, these video games create a new world where these
gamers feel they fit in and can control what is going on.[15]

Types and demographics

Sexes
 A young male playing a video game on the PlayStation 4 console

Although roughly the same number of men and women play games, the stereotype of a gamer is one that is
predominantly male. A justification sometimes given for this is that while many women occasionally play games, they
should not be considered "true" gamers because they tend to play games that are more casual and require less skill
than men. This stereotype is perpetuated by the fact that at a professional level, most of the teams competing are
composed of men, while female gamers of moderate skill are rendered invisible. [16]

Gaymer
Main article: Gaymer
A gaymer, or gay gamer, is a person within the group of people who identify themselves
as LGBT (gay, bisexual, lesbian, or transgender) and have an active interest in video games.[17] This demographic
has been the subject of two large surveys, one in 2006, [18] which noted the level of prejudice that gaymers endure,
[19] and another in 2009, focusing on the content that gaymers expect in video games.[20][21] The gaymer community
provides a "safe place" for LGBT gamers[22] apart from the isolation they feel from both the heteronormative gaming
community and the gay community.[23] They[who?] also believe that as homosexuality in video games increase, there
will be an increased normalization of homosexuality in general. Hamed Hosseini [who?] stated that "gaymers are the
future of video games" at Valve's gaming convention.[which?] [23][24][25]

Dedication spectrum

Warren Moon and Marshall Faulk playing a video game

It is common for games media, games industry analysts, and academics to divide gamers into broad behavioral
categories. These categories are sometimes separated by level of dedication to gaming, sometimes by primary type
of game played, and sometimes by a combination of those and other factors. There is no general consensus on the
definitions or names of these categories, though many attempts have been made to formalize them. An overview of
these attempts and their common elements follows.