Survey: Average UK gamer is married, 35, earns £23k

That's according to a survey, conducted by gaming social network Pixwoo, of 2000 Brits who have identified themselves as gamers.

[Maddens Raiders]

Sounds about right. /gamers/ are all old now. :)

[TheSaint]

Who you calling old!

Even if I am.

[Gamer1982]

I'm 31 Married, from UK and earn about 13k a year lol.

[CRAIG667]

Wages in the UK have become a complete joke, there is hardly any difference between skilled and unskilled salary, may as well work at McDonalds...

I am 32 and have been lucky with what I earn but for years I struggled...

-Married with 3 kids.

[nukeitall]

@CRAIG667:

That is the problem with non-capitalistic society. In the US, McDonalds workers get close to minimum wage. Skilled labor gets more and labor that requires usage of your brain gets handsomely rewarded.

That is why I love the US capitalistic system. It rewards hard work, instead of distributing wealth to people that don't want to achieve.

Unfortunately, I know live in Europe where this is ever present almost everywhere. Germany is the only country I have had personal contact with that seems to be highly capitalistic.

That said, it doesn't surprise me gamers get low wages. There was a study that found gamers to in general have lower wages, poorer careers and family stability than non-gamers.

I'm a gamer, but I recognize the issue. After all, when I do play, I can't stop!!!

[JackOfAllBlades]

There is a massive new generation of gamers coming who are about 17-25 now

[andibandit]

How so?

[SniperControl]

And all they play is cod games.
I have at some point in my life owned an Atari 2600, Spectrum 128k, Nintendo Snes, Sega Megadrive, Commodore Amiga, Nin 64, GBA, Sega Saturn, PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP, PS Vita, X360. I also have a high end gaming PC. I pre-ordered the PS4 back in Feb.

I am what you would call a TRUE gamer.

[LoveSpuds]

With the exception of the Sega Saturn you have the same track record as me chief :)

I reached 38 a few days ago and weirdly, I earn £23,300PA. Always thought I was special, turns out I am an average Joe :D

[torchic]

so because you were born earlier that makes you a "truer" gamer?

I'm 20 now, and I've basically grown up with a controller in my hand, and I think I can speak for a vast majority of kids around my age. I first started with knock off Sonic and assorted classic Nintendo games at about age 5, switched to PlayStation at age 7 and have owned every available Sony console ever since, barring Vita and PS4. there was a giant boom of young video gamers born in the 90s obviously due to the popularity of PSone and have therefore lived through undoubtedly gaming's best two generations so I think younger gamers are true gamers as well.

and on the issue of CoD, majority of the time it's older gamers who rip on CoD because I guess at that age the reflexes aren't as sharp

[sourav93]

So just because you've been gaming longer than most people, mostly because you were born earlier, makes you a "TRUE" gamer? And all of us who were born in the 90s and only had the pleasure of starting out gaming with a PlayStation, we're just phonies? Gamer logic right there....*correction* TRUE gamers are smarted than that. They don't care when they or anyone else started gaming.

[Picnic]

True gamers knew that Atari consoles were an expensive waste of time.

[SniperControl]

^^^To the peeps above
I have just read what i have wrote and it came out all wrong.
What i meant to say was that i have been gaming a long time and played thousands of games, i just feel that a lot of young gamers today just play COD/Halo MP all the time and don't experience anything else gaming has to offer. I know a couple of lads from work, who just own a 360 and a copy of COD or Halo for MP & nothing else.

I agree, to be a gamer you have to start somewhere, be it an Atari 2600 or a PS4, but to be a true gamer you have to look beyond COD & Halo and truly experience the highs & lows of other games, i'am not saying MP is bad, just try something else.
Jesus, i remember COD when it was a WW2 SP shooter, that was a truly epic game.

@torchic

I used to play COD MP on my X360 years ago, but got f~#ked off with the constant abuse from 12 year old little shits, ruined the whole MP experience for me.

[SniperControl]

@LoveSpuds
Wow, i am 38 as well lol, fortunately i work in the IT industry & my wages are quite higher than the average, but i worked bloody hard to get there, just so my little 4 year old lad can experience gaming the way i did when i was growing up.
Although he did proclaim to me the other day that "Xbox was rubbish" & that the PS4 was going into his bedroom. lol

[SniperControl]

@Picnic
True gamers know, with out the Atari 2600 success, there would be no consoles today. LOL

[Tultras]

Like me! I'm 17.

And yes, I play COD all day long, problem?

I find that COD the best replay value, it's multiplayer is simply really good. That said I Have played a plethora of different games None of them keep have kept me hooked longer than COD sadly.

[CRAIG667]

Tried Borderlands 2?

[csreynolds]

I find it hard to believe that you play "a plethora of different games" if you think CoD has the best replay value. Many of the greatest games in terms of longevity and replayability are not products of Activision, Infinity Ward or Treyarch...

[hay]

COD is good for starters, but it's like sitting on a shallow end of the pool wearing a life vest. You can dip your arse there and enjoy it, sure, it's water, it's wet, it covers some of your body.
But to have a full blast, one just needs to learn to swim and go to the deep end and dive a bit.

[Tultras]

Haven't tried borderlands 2, right now, apart from COD with friends, i am playing NFS:MW and after that TLOU.

I never said COD has the 'best' replay value, just that its multiplayer is really good and keeps me hooked to the game 'longer' than most. Even though i can't really see the appeal to the game, its just addicting, in some ways.

Also, i only got my PS3 in late 2011, so i was a little late to the game, but i have played ( apart from COD ):

Killzone 3, uncharted 2/3, resistance 2/3, deadspace 2, Fifa series ( currently playing 13. ) Skyrim, dark souls, GT5 ( sadly, haven't played the full game, just the prologue version ), NFS:MW, Kingdoms of amalur, Spiderman:web of shadows, Batman: AC, Battlefield 3, Crysis 2, Twisted metal, Mass effect 3, CS:GO, littlebigplanet, and many others.

Most of them are better than COD, leagues better, but what i mean to say is; they don't keep me playing longer than COD, for the duration i play them, they appeal to me much better than COD.

[nick309]

This gamer must marry a girl gamer to finish the month and afford all good games.

[abcde12345]

Girl gamers are awesome!

[MikeyDucati1]

I wonder what NA stats are like. Cause it seems like the average gamer over here is 13-15 and of course, has no job. I could be ignorant but I'm a gamer from the Atari days and some of my buddies look at me weird that I still play videogames with pretty much the same passion as my youth.

[PositiveEmotions]

I been playing video games since i was 7 years old and now ima grown man and i still play video games. I too have the same passion for video games

[insomnium2]

Yeah some of the people from our age group (30 somethings) still has that mentality that gaming is only for children. They are stuck in the nes-era when all the games LOOKED childish. smh.

[CRAIG667]

I too have been playing since the C64 days, but alot of my friends are gamers too, perhaps not to the same extent as me but gamers non the less.
I do still meet people who say "games are for kids" and to them I just point out the fact that I would rather be using my brain than sat in front of a mindless TV show having my brain numbed, that not to say I dont enjoy the odd mind numbing TV show! FAMILY GUY RULES!

[SITH]

Merican

35 years old

$51,140 a year

Retired disabled veteran.

[insomnium2]

Sounds like you are doing quite well money-wize and to think that you are only 4 years older than me and retired.

I work all day every day almost and I get around 30-33k euros/year for it.

The best part is that everything is so damn expensive here in Finland. Gas is 1.68 euros per litre (that's about 11.4 euros per 100 kilometers driving with my car).

Our monthly expenses are about 250 euros for gas, 800-1000 euros for food (I have a wife and 3 kids plus lots of pets), 500 euros for our house and insurances (an old ass house from the 1920s).
Then there is electricity that is 120 euros per summer months but can be up to 420 euros PER MONTH in the cold season. Then there are cellphones, ISP, other car related payments (just had to buy 4 new tires for 500 euros), etc. etc. Needless to say we are struggling to make ends meet and I'm never home cause I work even on weekends. One of our children is a baby girl and all the time I'm at home I spend it with her and our other kids (8 and 10yo).

[PositiveEmotions]

@insomnium2
"Yeah some of the people from our age group (30 somethings) still has that mentality that gaming is only for children. They are stuck in the nes-era when all the games LOOKED childish. smh."

Yeah and family friends from our age (30 something) dont understand that the people whi make games are in their 20's and up so age does not matter imo

[gaelic_laoch]

I still remember having half the street over to my house playing Pole Position on the Atari!!!! When I croak it I will have a Gamepad in my cold dead hands!!! WHY STOP NOW!!!!!

[Sketchy_Galore]

Ah, it feels rad to be one of those fresh faced youngsters of just 30 years old. These typical gamers are so out of touch, talking to me about the original model ZX Spectrum when I'm all like, 'Dude, that's way before my time. I played the redesigned ZX Spectrum with the floppy disc drive that came out five years later. Step off old man, your bogus vibes are harshing my buzz'. Those dudes will never understand people like me who are still young, and unmarried... and unemployed.

[green]

I am 32, earn more than 23k, not married and only have like 5 hours in a week to game. Miss my uni days when I could game for 10hours a day if I wanted.

[skwidd]

Im 33

And make 77000

I sometimes feel I dont make enough because some people make loads more! But when I hear these numbers Im reminded to be grateful. I have friends that make 200,000! And they never buy us drinks!

[MK24ever]

I'm 32 with two kids and I do so little I'm embarrased to say it here, maybe saying I'm from Portugal explains alot. That said, I'm a very happy man, father and husband. But yes, having more money would make my life less stressfull, I'll probably die young due to so much stress...

[Cam977]

I'm only 16 and have been gaming since I remember.
It began with my Dad's MAC computer, then the PS1, and after that I've owned every Playstation since with a GBA and a Wii.

I love the early Playstation games, so much so that I have an enormous library of PS- games to play on my Vita. It was just yesterday that I played MGS1 again, Silent Hill and Resident Evil 2 on my plane home from Portugal.

On top of that I'm also enjoying the latest hits such as The Last of Us (which I'm enjoying immensely). I'll probably hold off buying the PS4 at launch due to being unemployed (I finished my GCSE exams last month, mere weeks ago) and my PS1, PS2 and PS3 backlogs are huge - I just love games. I'm ~90% through GRAND THEFT AUTO San Andreas which I'm working to 100% on in light of GTA:V's release.

I like gaming so much that when I'm not playing I try to read and write about them (I read on N4G and write on my website which currently has a Resident Evil 1 retrospective in the works).

[csreynolds]

Well done that lad. @Tultras could learn something from you...

[Hicken]

Nice to see a youngster with a taste for variety.

.... I hate it. Even when I'm at work, I see teens and think, "Damn kids." And I'm not even 30 yet!

Man, getting old sucks.

[ziratul]

I work for £4.8k / year - yet I manage to buy a lot of Nintendo games. It's a magic.

[hkgamer]

Love how averages work. I do hate not being able to see some of the actual data they got that from though.

Would be very disappointing to know that 35 year old's earning £23,000 a year >.<

[ElementX]

Today is my birthday and I am 33, single, live in Minnesota, and I make around $34k "watching" security cameras.

[My_Outer_Heaven]

I'm 26 currently a student and I earn nothing but my student loans at the moment.

[ShaunCameron]

I'm 33, single, no kids, live in Canada and I make barely $20 000/year. I played more games in the last 3 years than I ever did between 1990 and 2007.