Report: Moms Love Playing Video Games

Further taking a Triple H-style sledgehammer to long-held stereotypes of the gaming community, a new study released by the Entertainment Software Association finds that one of the people most likely playing video games every week is… your mom?

All of our moms, actually. The ESA report, which you can see here, reveals that 74 percent of mothers surveyed said they play video games every week, with 38 percent admitting that they play every day. Among the benefits the moms claimed to receive from their gaming were connecting with their kids, monitoring video game content for their children, and improving their cognitive skills.

As you might expect, the ESA took the broadest definition of “video games,” one that included games played on smartphones and tablets (and that’s as it should be!). Mobile devices were indeed the most popular platform for the gaming moms, but it’s worth noting that half of the 1,845 survey participants who said they played reported doing so on consoles.

So much is made about seeking out the female gamer demographic that is often ignored or underserved that it’s easy to overlook the sub-demographics like the one in this study that are hungry for good games to play. If nothing else, it’s something for developers and publishers to keep in mind.

Now if you’ll kindly tell your mom to stop whipping me in “Madden” and first-person shooters, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!