According to Statista, the Video Games market is projected to reach a revenue of $312.4 billion in 2025. Growing at an annual rate of 7.82%, the projected market is expected to reach $363.2 billion by 2027. Exploding Topics said in 2024, there were an estimated 3.32 billion gamers globally. That is an increase of over 1 billion active video gamers in just eight years. Not surprisingly, both the DSM-5 and the ICD-11 describe how gaming can become a disorder.
Exploding Topics said Asia has over twice as many gamers than any other region. In fact, it has more active gamers than Europe, Latin America and North America combined. In 2022 Japan and the UK have the highest video game user penetration rate at 58%. The UK is projected to reach a video game user penetration rate of 70% by 2027, surpassing Japan. The U.S. wasn’t even listed in the top seven by user penetration.
See the following tables taken from Exploding Topics.
| Region | Number of Gamers |
| Asia | 1.48 billion |
| Europe | 715 million |
| Latin America | 420 million |
| North America | 285 million |
| MENA (Middle East/N. Africa) | 168 million |
| Sub-Sahara Africa | 144 million |
| Oceania | 32 million |
Nations by User Penetration
| Country | 2017 | 2022 | 2027 |
| Japan | 53% | 58% | 67% |
| UK | 50% | 58% | 70% |
| Sweden | 47% | 51% | 64% |
| South Korea | 45% | 57% | 64% |
| France | 43% | – | – |
| Mexico | – | 53% | – |
| Nigeria | – | – | 63% |
| Type of Game | Share of Respondents | Global Gamers |
| Casual games | 63% | 1.95 billion |
| Action games | 39% | 1.21 billion |
| Shooter games | 39% | 1.21 billion |
| Racing games | 37% | 1.14 billion |
| Family games | 33% | 1.02 billion |
| Adventure games | 31% | .96 billion |
I hadn’t considered myself to be a “gamer,” thinking of video gamers as individuals playing action and shooter games, like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty. And I don’t play casual games like Angry Birds or Candy Crush, but I do play online Parchesi and some card games. Then I read where these games are one genre of casual games. So, even I’m included in the 1.95 billion of global casual gamers.
Gaming has become a multi-billion-dollar industry, catering to every type of gamer imaginable. And it shows no signs of declining, and these statistics show how the number of gamers continues to grow yearly. But how did video gaming become such a global phenomenon?
Video Game History
Smithsonian described how MIT students in the 1960s created one of the first computer video games called Spacewar. Students there were given access to MIT’s (then) new PDP-1 computer to develop a demonstration program that “(1) utilized as many of the computer’s resources as possible and ‘taxed those resources to the limit,’ (2) remained interesting even after repeated viewings, which meant that each run needed to be slightly different and (3) was interactive.” It created a sensation on campus and variations spread to other universities that had computer engineering programs.
Spacewar wasn’t destined for release to the general public, because computers were still too expensive for personal use. “To play Spacewar one needed access to a research facility’s computer, which kept the game’s influence limited to the small computer technology sphere.” In 1971, the first coin-operated video games were introduced. Then Atari released Pong, a video-based arcade ping-pong game in 1972.
The first Pong machine was installed in Andy Capp’s Tavern, a bar located in Sunnyvale, California. A few days later, the tavern owner called Atari to send someone out to fix the machine. The problem turned out to be that the cashbox was filled with too many quarters. The coins had overflowed and jammed the machine. Atari clearly had a sensation on its hands.
The home version of Pong was equally as successful as the arcade version. Atari sold 150,000 units in 1975 alone. The supply outpaced the demand, and too many games hit the market. But then the age of home computers arrived, and people could play games in addition to running a multitude of other programs. Then in 1985, Nintendo released its Nintendo Entertainment System. “No longer a novelty, video games found a firm foothold mainstream American life.”
In 2018 the Pew Research Center related “5 facts about Americans and video games.” Overall, 43% of U.S. adults say they often or sometimes play video games on a variety of devices such as a computer, TV, game console, or portable devices like a cell phone. However, there are differences by age and gender. Men are more likely than women play, particularly among young people. “72% of men ages 18 to 29 play video games, compared with 49% of women in the same age range.” Americans younger than 50 are almost twice as likely than those over 50 to say they play games on one of these devices (55% vs. 28%).
A Pew Center survey of people between the ages of 13 and 17 found that 84% said they have a game console at home or have access to one. Ninety percent said they play video games on one of the above devices. “A quarter of teens (26%) believe they spend too much time playing video games, while a similar share (22%) feels they spend too little time doing so.” And these findings differ by gender.
Four-in-ten boys ages 13 to 17 (41%) say they spend too much time playing video games, nearly four times the share of girls who say the same (11%). And a larger share of boys (65%) than girls (50%) have cut back on the amount of time they spend playing games. Three-in-ten girls believe they spend too little time playing games, a view shared by just 14% of boys.
Gaming Becomes a Disorder
In the 2020 book, The Oxford Handbook of Digital Technologies and Mental Health, chapter two, “A History and Overview of Video Game Addiction,” noted that over the previous decade there had been a significant increase in the number of empirical studies examining problematic video game play. In the 1980s, researchers looked at arcade video game addiction. In the 1990s, studies examined home console video game addiction. And with the 2000s and beyond, they have studied online video game addiction.
When the DSM-5 was published in 2013, it included ‘Internet Gaming Disorder’ (IGD) as a behavioral addiction in need of further study before recognizing it as an independent clinical disorder. Pontes et al noted that while there has been a number of researchers looking at problematic and/or addictive video game use, the field has been hindered by the use of inconsistent and non-standardized criteria to access it. The aim of their 2014 study was to develop a valid and reliable standardized psychometric tool based on the nine criteria suggested in the DSM-5, the IGD-20 Test.
Taken as a whole, the findings of the present study support the concept of IGD. It also supports the viability of its further study as reflected by the nine IGD criteria and the components model of addiction. Furthermore, the current findings also suggest that the IGD-20 Test satisfies the need for a standardised and psychometrically sound measurement tool for assessing this behavioural addiction in accordance to the IGD criteria outlined in DSM-5. Additionally, the IGD-20 Test was designed to be applicable and cover all gamers irrespective of the genre played, demarcating from previous trend of researching and assessing specific games and gamers such as those that play Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. Consequently, our hope is that this instrument facilitates the need to reach a consensus in the field in terms of assessment and conceptual definition of this increasingly studied phenomenon.
See the IGD-20 Test link to download a copy of the IGD-20 Test in eight different languages, including English, Spanish and Chinese.
The American Psychiatric Association said internet gaming (IGD) was identified in the DSM-5 as a behavior disorder in need of further study before it is recognized as an official disorder. IGD must cause significant impairment or distress in several aspects of a person’s life. The proposed condition was limited to gaming only and does not include problems with general internet use, gambling, or use of social media. There is neurological research showing similarities in brain changes between video gaming and addictive substances (See below). The proposed diagnostic criteria or symptoms for internet gaming disorder include experiencing five or more within a year:
- Preoccupation with gaming
- Withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away or not possible (sadness, anxiety, irritability)
- Tolerance, the need to spend more time gaming to satisfy the urge
- Inability to reduce playing, unsuccessful attempts to quit gaming
- Giving up other activities, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities due to gaming
- Continuing to game despite problems
- Deceiving family members or others about the amount of time spent on gaming
- The use of gaming to relieve negative moods, such as guilt or hopelessness
- Risk, having jeopardized or lost a job or relationship due to gaming
The 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) included gaming disorder (GD) in 2019. Since January of 2022, the ICD-11 has been used to report health statistics. Here, GD could be diagnosed by only 3 symptoms: impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences. For gaming disorder to be diagnosed, the behavior pattern must be severe enough to result in significant impairment to an individual’s functioning in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other areas; and be evident for at least 12 months.
A decision on inclusion of gaming disorder in ICD-11 is based on reviews of available evidence and reflects a consensus of experts from different disciplines and geographical regions that were involved in the process of technical consultations undertaken by WHO [World Health Organization] in the process of ICD-11 development.
he inclusion of gaming disorder in ICD-11 follows the development of treatment programmes for people with health conditions identical to those characteristics of gaming disorder in many parts of the world, and will result in the increased attention of health professionals to the risks of development of this disorder and, accordingly, to relevant prevention and treatment measures.
The Journal of Behavioral Addictions published a study done by Lopez et al in December of 2024 that investigated the relationship between reward processing and symptoms of gaming addiction in adolescents. Neuroscience News said the researchers looked at data collected from 6,143 video game users between the ages of 10 and 15 over four years. Participants received a brain scan with an fMRI in the first year and answered Video Game Addiction Questionnaires over the next three years. “They found that the participants with more symptoms of gaming addiction over time showed lower brain activity in the region involved in decision-making and reward processing during the initial brain scan taken four years earlier.”
Previous research in adults has provided similar insight, showing that this blunted response to reward anticipation is associated with higher symptoms of gaming addiction and suggests that reduced sensitivity to rewards, in particular non-gaming rewards, may play a role in problematic gaming.
The lead author of the study, Daniel Lopez, said although gaming is not unhealthy, their study showed how some people were more susceptible to symptoms of gaming disorder than others. He noted the difficulty parents would have in attempting to limit their children’s gaming. “But we want to know the right balance between healthy gaming and unhealthy gaming, and this research starts to point us in the direction of the neural markers we can use to help us identify who might be at risk of unhealthy gaming behaviors.” The Lopez et al researchers said:
The findings from our study, conducted with a generally healthy population, provide valuable insights into the early neural markers of gaming addiction. By identifying the relationship between caudate activation and symptoms of gaming addiction in a population that largely falls within the range of typical gaming behavior, our study contributes to understanding the potential boundary between healthy and problematic gaming. This knowledge is critical for developing interventions aimed at promoting healthy gaming habits before gaming behavior escalates into addiction. Future work could build on these findings by exploring how neural activity in reward-related regions could serve as early indicators for potential targeted interventions.
