40% of U.S. gamers play PC, console and mobile games | Comscore


Global media measurement firm Comscore has published a new study in partnership with in-game advertising platform Anzu on the habits of U.S. gamers. According to the results, American gamers are relatively platform agnostic. In turn, this creates a challenge for brands that want to effectively reach them.

“Our 2024 State of Gaming report highlights the cultural significance of gaming and the vital role of gamer behavior for brands looking to tap into this dynamic and engaged audience,” said Steve Bagdasarian, chief commercial officer at Comscore. “Comscore’s data empowers advertisers to confidently shift spend into the gaming economy, unlocking incremental reach and media performance by targeting this largely underleveraged brand environment.”

The full report includes in-depth analysis on trends and insights for advertisers, marketers and publishers.

U.S. gaming landscape

Comscore found that 62% of U.S. adults play games, representing a growing portion of media consumption.


Lil Snack & GamesBeat

GamesBeat is excited to partner with Lil Snack to have customized games just for our audience! We know as gamers ourselves, this is an exciting way to engage through play with the GamesBeat content you have already come to love. Start playing games now!


Players spent 45 billion hours on gaming-related sites and apps in 2023.

In 2023, Americans spent 45 billion hours on gaming sites and apps. In comparison, they spent 1.6 billion in movie theaters, 62 billion hours on social media, and 201 billion hours watching Live+ television.

Highest grossing game to film transmedia adaptations released since 2021
Mario leads the way for games at the box office.

Of course, there is significant overlap in time spent among these activities. One example is the rise of transmedia movie and television adaptations of gaming properties Since 2021, the top five highest grossing film adaptations of gaming franchises grossed a collective $1.09 billion.

U.S. gamer demographics age and income Comscore 2024
Almost half of U.S. players are millennials.

Demographically, 49% of gamers in the U.S. are millennials while Gen Z accounts for 13% of players. This means roughly two thirds of adult gamers are 45 and younger. This somewhat unsurprising given that millennials are a larger generation overall than Gen Z and the survey did not include minors.

In term of income, U.S. gamers are less affluent on average than the broader U.S. population. According to Comscore, 20% of gamers earned a household income of over $100,000 per year. In comparison, the U.S. census reports 37.5% of Americans earned over $100,000 annually. However, this is expected given that gamers are younger (and earlier in their careers) than average.

Screenshot 2024 07 16 At 5.51.03%E2%80%AFPM
Most U.S. gamers play on multiple platforms.

Additionally, Comscore found U.S. gamers are highly engaged across the three major platforms — PC, console and mobile. Over 75% of these gamers played on more than one of these platforms. Moreover, two out of every five U.S. gamers played on all three platforms regularly.

Ad implications

U.S. gamers’ multi-platform habits pose a challenge — and an opportunity — for brands that want to reach them.

In partnership with programmatic, blended ad solutions platform Anzu, Comscore highlighted unique opportunities for brands to reach players. With both blended ads and more traditional rewarded in-game ads available, marketers have several options to consider.

“As gaming continues to grow as an advertising channel, more advertisers effectively make it part of their omnichannel strategies to reach and engage vast and diverse audiences” said Itamar Benedy, cofounder and CEO of Anzu. “Comscore’s State of Gaming Report 2024 helps advertisers better understand gamer behaviors and preferences to deliver more relevant in-game ad experiences to their consumers and get maximum impact from their investments.”

Gamers are positive or neutral towards in-game advertisements according to Comscore and Anzu
Gamers are generally receptive to ads according to Comscore and Anzu.

According to the research, about two-thirds of gamers said advertisements either positively or neutrally impacted their experience. Both primarily mobile (75%) and console players (75%) were more likely to agree than PC players (64%). In fact, about a third of players said product placement made the experience “more real.”

The research also includes a case study from Comscore about the brand lift driven by in-game blended advertising. The full report is available now.