A new YouGov survey commissioned by Xbox reveals that gaming is a real and significant family activity for the holidays.

YouGov produced a survey for people aged 13+ in six of the biggest video game markets around the world, in United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Germany, and Mexico. In this survey, they determined what opinions people had about video games, and what video game related behaviors they engaged in for the holidays.

Here’s a quick overview of their survey results:

38 % of respondents who said they game in the holidays, also confirmed gaming is one of their top five family activities.

56 % of respondents agreed that passing their love of video games to their children or younger relatives is a great tradition.

Subsequently, 57 % of respondents agreed that gaming is a great way to spend time with their families virtually, as opposed to other ways of doing so like Zoom sessions or phone calls.

Of the respondents who say they play with family in the holidays, 40 % play with their own children, 21 % play with their parents, 5 % play with their grandparents, and 10 % play with their in-laws.

Video games are also a popular pastime overall. 54 % of respondents confirm they play games to relieve stress, beating out exercise at 42 %, reading books at 45 %, and even social media at 46 %.

Certainly, the timing of this survey was interesting. Two years into the pandemic, the explosion in the video game market has subsided, but it seems likely that the industry has come out of it with a broader audience than before. More importantly, Microsoft had established that gamers are interested in passing their hobby along to new generations. It’s something that consumers themselves may take for granted, but could point to a broader sustainability for the industry.

Microsoft also cited the success of their own games in the study. MineCraft and Forza Horizon 5 join other family friendly games to make up the 50 % of all games played in the holidays in 2021. This is an increase compared to their habits in the two years before. Of course, most folks think of mobile games now as family activities, like Roblox, Fortnite, or Among Us, as well as Nintendo’s library of first party offerings, including the recently very popular Splatoon 3, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. We’re sure even you reading this have been thinking about what games you can play with your relatives for these holidays yourself.

Source: Xbox News