U.S. video gaming audiences 2006-2021, by gender
In 2021, women accounted for 45 percent of gamers in the United States, up from 41 percent of U.S. gamers identifying as women during the previous year.
The global gaming industry has been developing at a fast pace in recent years. In 2025, the global gaming market is projected to be worth nearly 269 billion U.S. dollars, with North America accounting for 80.9 billion U.S. dollars in market value. In 2021, it was estimated that there were over3.2 billion gamers in the world. Video gaming is therefore not a mere pastime of children or a passing fancy.
Although the largest regional market in terms of sales as well as number of gamers is Asia Pacific, the United States is also an important player within the global video games industry. In fact, many consider the United States as the birthplace of gaming as we know it today, fueled by the arcade game fever in the ’60s and the introduction of the first personal computers and home gaming consoles in the ‘70s. Furthermore, the children of those eras are the game developers and game players, the ones who have driven the movement for better software solutions, better graphics, better sound and more advanced interaction not only for video games, but also for computers and communication technologies as we know today.
Video gaming and gamers - additional information
The global gaming industry has been developing at a fast pace in recent years. In 2025, the global gaming market is projected to be worth nearly 269 billion U.S. dollars, with North America accounting for 80.9 billion U.S. dollars in market value. In 2021, it was estimated that there were over3.2 billion gamers in the world. Video gaming is therefore not a mere pastime of children or a passing fancy.
Although the largest regional market in terms of sales as well as number of gamers is Asia Pacific, the United States is also an important player within the global video games industry. In fact, many consider the United States as the birthplace of gaming as we know it today, fueled by the arcade game fever in the ’60s and the introduction of the first personal computers and home gaming consoles in the ‘70s. Furthermore, the children of those eras are the game developers and game players, the ones who have driven the movement for better software solutions, better graphics, better sound and more advanced interaction not only for video games, but also for computers and communication technologies as we know today.
