We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

59% of US gamers say they’ll vote in the next presidential election

ESA's latest survey of American gamers shows they're just as politically engaged as their peers.

Gamers are also likely voters, according to a new survey published by the Entertainment Software Association. According to its survey of more than 4,000 Americans, 59% of videogame players say they are “certain” they will be voting in the 2020 presidential election.

That tracks pretty closely with voter turnout nationally. About 58.1% of eligible American voters participated in the 2016 election, but it does cut against the notion that gamers aren’t as civically engaged as their non-gaming peers.

In terms of party affiliation, 37% of gamers identify as Democrats, while 33% are Republicans. 18% of gamers said they were independent, and 12% fell into the “other” category (this would presumably include monarchists who play too much Crusader Kings 2).

That Democrat/Republican split is more pronounced among gamers than it is with US voters more generally. Gallup’s latest polling has 27% of Americans leaning toward the Republican party, and 26% leaning Democratic. 44% of respondents in Gallup’s survey said they were independent.

GamesIndustry.biz highlights a couple more interesting statistics included in the ESA survey. For instance, gamers were more likely to report having a creative hobby than non-gamers (56% vs. 49%), and gamers are more likely to meditate (32% vs. 27%).

The survey breaks down a few responses by generational cohort as well. Among ‘Millennial’ gamers (ages 18-34), favorite games included Fortnite, Assassin’s Creed, and Candy Crush. Gen X gamers (35-54) tend more toward racing and retro games, including Forza and Tetris.

Rule your kingdom: The best 4X games on PC

The survey also asked Baby Boomer gamers (55-64) about the games they enjoy most, and the most popular games among that group are digital board games and card games, like Solitaire and Scrabble. However, male Baby Boomers are most likely to also be PC gamers, with 66% reporting that they most often play games on PC.

While the average gamer is 33 years old, the average PC gamer is 38 – which makes me feel a bit better about my rapidly-advancing age.