The classic image of the lonely gamer is completely outdated: young people love to play games with their friends and to get to know new people in games. The social aspect of gaming is gaining in importance and they prefer to play against friends. This is evident from new figures from the Apestaart years survey, a biennial survey by Mediaraven, Mediawijs and imec-mict of Ghent University.
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No less than 67 percent enjoy playing against friends more than against the computer. Only 13 percent of young people agree with the proposition that they prefer to play games alone.
This is also the case with children: 60 percent of the children play together with friends or family. Tablets are preferred away from children. Exactly 72 percent game via the tablet, followed by 55 percent via a game console. Games remain a popular pastime.
Nine out of ten young people play a game at least once a month. The smartphone remains the most popular device for this, but game consoles are also not inferior. Those consoles are more suitable for roleplaying, multiplayer and shooter games.
The study consists of a questionnaire among 950 children aged 6 to 12 in primary school and 4,255 young people aged 12 to 18 in secondary school. There were also a series of in-depth interviews in both age groups.
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