Again in February, MachineGames head Jerk Gustafsson emphasised to GamesIndustry.biz that the video games market nonetheless has room to develop. “I’m 54 years outdated now,” he mentioned, “and I grew up with games – however I feel I used to be additionally the first technology that grew up with games. So once I’m going into retirement, once I’m 70 years outdated, that must be the peak. That must be the peak of our set up base, that must be the peak of people who have truly grown up enjoying games every day.”
Yet the games trade has been sluggish to serve the growing ranks of grey gamers. “You’ve increasingly more gamers which are older… possibly 40, 50, 60 years outdated,” mentioned Emmanuel Rosier, director of market intelligence at Newzoo, in the “State of the Business 2026” discuss ultimately week’s Nordic Recreation convention. “And if they’re retired, they’ve much more cash – however no one’s making games for the retired folks.”
It is well-known that international locations reminiscent of the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and plenty of locations in Western Europe have ageing populations. In keeping with the UK’s Office for National Statistics, round 13% of the UK inhabitants was aged 65 or over in 1972. That leapt as much as 19% in 2022, and is projected to rise to 27% by 2072.
Importantly, these older folks wish to play video games. The analyst agency Ampere Evaluation informed GamesIndustry.biz that in the UK, there have been 6.62 million gamers aged 55 or over in 2025. That determine is projected to rise to 7.32 million by 2031. And throughout Western Europe as a complete, there have been 51.89 million gamers aged 55+ in 2025, a determine that is set to rise to 56.9 million by 2031.
Analyst Joost van Dreunen, the CEO of Aldora and former head of SuperData, tells GamesIndustry.biz that builders want to vary their pondering to give attention to an older viewers.
“Builders have been ignoring older gamers for the similar purpose it took them many years to find girls,” he says. “The trade has spent 40 years chasing the similar narrowly outlined viewers as a result of it was the most secure wager, till everybody was chasing it. Think about if Hollywood solely made films for 18-year-old males. That is roughly the wager games have been making.
“The alternative is substantial. The 40+ section in the US is on monitor to develop from $19 billion in 2022 to $43 billion by 2030, a 132% enlargement at a second when the remainder of the trade is shrinking. These are gamers with the most disposable earnings, the longest gaming literacy, and the highest model loyalty. They’re additionally the least seen in the trade’s dashboards as a result of the metrics have been constructed round youthful gamers who compete continuously. Older lifelong gamers do not, however they hold enjoying, and so they hold spending.
“What wants to vary is the trade’s mindset. A complete technology has now grown up enjoying video games and is ageing right into a life stage the place they’ve time, cash, and the need to maintain enjoying. The first publishers to really see this participant will seize a structural benefit. The relaxation will arrive 10 years late, precisely like they did with girls.”
Catering for the older crowd
Veteran analyst Matthew Ball, who was put in as Xbox’s new chief technique officer final month, informed The Games Business again in February that the trade is not doing a superb job of partaking older gamers outdoors of informal cellular games.
“We’re positively shedding that cohort,” he mentioned. He suspects that older gamers are more likely to take massive breaks between play classes, and a part of the problem is that games usually aren’t good at reorienting gamers after they come again after a break. “There’s a mismatch between the basic funding in tutorials for the first jiffy, relative to the place truly the participant loss occurs,” Ball mentioned.
“Most games do not lose gamers after half-hour, they lose them a lot later. You place the controller down and you do not come again. And that is partly as a result of the map has expanded, the instruments have expanded. You are like, ‘holy crap, the talent tree, what did I’ve to prioritise?’ That, I think, goes to be much more vital for that older sport demo. Partly as a result of, when there’s person testing, it is normally not asking: ‘how exhausting is boss 9 for a 58-year-old who hasn’t touched a controller in over two weeks?'”
However how will the older crowd play games? “After we ask, ‘What’s going to folks be enjoying subsequent 12 months?’, we’re maybe asking the fallacious query,” says Larry Kuperman, who was vp of enterprise growth at remake specialists Nightdive Studios till retiring in March. “I feel the query that ought to come up first is: ‘What’s going to we be enjoying it on?'”
He reckons it is unlikely that grey gamers shall be enjoying on closely specced-out PCs or next-generation consoles (particularly given the big {hardware} value rises we have seen of late). “If you happen to take a look at the kinds of games that individuals can play on unusual machines, on the type of machine that grandma and grandpa have at house that also has AOL dial-up – I should not say that, however shut – however should you take a look at that, there are actually two classes which are going to learn.”
One is games like Roblox, which run on low-powered units and are primarily platforms in themselves. “I do not see them penetrating into that demographic,” says Kuperman. “However that brings you all the way down to different classes which were growing, like cosy games, informal games, and retro. And retro has a bonus in that viewers in that you do not want the newest [computer].”
He additionally thinks there’s a possibility to rekindle manufacturers or IPs that attraction to an older demographic, giving the examples of Nightdive’s remasters of Turok, Blood, and Star Wars: Darkish Forces. “These are manufacturers that can resonate with that group. I do not wish to say that should you say to any individual over 65, ‘Oh, it is a souls-like’, they will not perceive what you are speaking about, however should you point out Star Wars, they go, ‘Sure, I do know that, I do know that model’.”
Come again to what
Andrew Byatt, CEO of Blaze Leisure, the makers of the retro-focused Evercade console household, says that a variety of the firm’s prospects are returning to gaming after a very long time away. “We discover there’s a variety of lapsed gamers,” he tells GamesIndustry.biz. “They actually wish to re-experience stuff that they did after they have been youthful.”
He thinks this group is underserved. “If all builders are specializing in these big cinematic experiences, and so they’re aiming at youngsters and [people in their] early 20s, that type of age group, then I feel they’re lacking a trick.”
He provides that along with their in-built model recognition, retro games are inclined to have a bonus for the older crowd by way of their relative brevity compared with trendy titles. Older gamers may need extra disposable earnings, he says, “however they might have much less time. They have busy jobs and every part else. And really these retro experiences are good for that.”
Like Kuperman, he reckons the older technology won’t essentially be speeding out to purchase costly gaming {hardware}, which is why Blaze provides inexpensive, entry-level units in the type of the self-contained Tremendous Pocket handhelds. “I feel that is vital for this crowd,” he says, “as a result of they may not be super-committed, hardcore gamers.”
Importantly, he thinks there is a missed alternative in terms of making gaming’s wealthy again catalogue extra extensively accessible. “I’ve all the time had a little bit of a frustration with the distinction between gaming and music and movie,” Byatt says. “Music and movie is so nicely curated and accessible, and you’ll find virtually every part from yearly utilizing completely different companies… And I feel gaming simply hasn’t actually completed that.”
Yet Byatt emphasises that retro games aren’t the solely technique to tempt the older crowd – there’s additionally room for new builders. “Retro is clearly a pure match for some of these games, however we do have trendy retro as nicely. We publish stuff from folks creating for outdated techniques which are nonetheless doing that at the moment, and we even have some indie stuff, which could be very retro themed. However I feel that there’s definitely a growing market – and so they’ve obtained more cash.”
Of word, the varieties of selling that attraction to the youthful demographic, like viral TikTok campaigns and glitzy video showcases, won’t essentially reduce by way of to older audiences. “Electronic mail continues to be the strongest advertising software for us,” says Byatt. “Our e mail checklist is gold. It is how we attain our prospects. It is extra highly effective than our social media channels.”
No twitch shooters
Jack Emmert, who rejoined MMO maker Cryptic Studios as CEO earlier this 12 months, thinks there’s an enormous alternative to focus on older gamers. “Give me a 50 12 months outdated each day over a teen,” he tells GamesIndustry.biz. “The 50 12 months outdated has disposable earnings. The 50 12 months outdated is coming to some extent after they have time, they need their childhood again.”
“I am 57 and I nonetheless sport. I’ll sport in 10 years, and doubtless in one other 10 years.” However he thinks that the kinds of games he’ll play will change as he will get older – and games should be designed to accommodate the talents and needs of older gamers.
“I am unable to do twitch games for greater than half-hour at a time, as a result of my arms harm,” Emmert says. “That implies that once I’m designing games, I’ll be excited about that. And I’ll be excited about, ‘Effectively, what does a 60 12 months outdated wish to play? What second in the previous do they wish to recapture?’ And that, to me, is significant.”
Maybe satirically, the fast-paced Eighties arcade games which have massive attraction to gamers who keep in mind them from their youth are additionally a few of the most tough for them to play. However Emmert factors out there are many retro titles that do not require quick reflexes. “That is the place the old-style RPGs are nice, like Baldur’s Gate.”
“Give me a 50 12 months outdated each day over a teen. The 50 12 months outdated has disposable earnings”
Jack Emmert
Yet in terms of accommodating the wants of older gamers, Emmert thinks the largest factor that is holding the trade again is that there are so few sport designers in the 50-plus age bracket. “There aren’t any elder statesmen. And I feel this has harm the trade tremendously. We lose tons of expertise consistently, as a result of gaming is all the time centered right into a youthful demographic… And I do not know whether or not they consciously do it, or it is unconscious, nevertheless it’s only a reality.”
Emmert thinks that as a result of the majority of individuals making games are younger themselves, they do not essentially consider the older viewers when making them. “It is that easy,” he says, including that games advertising is overwhelmingly aimed toward the youthful technology.
“Give me these 60 12 months olds who watched Star Trek the unique sequence,” he concludes. “Come on down, play Star Trek On-line with me.”