Working for 20 years, Australia Performs has turn into a globally influential gaming survey authority. But it surely now faces new challenges as its information matures.
Bond College’s Professor Jeffrey Model is calm, collected and able to go.
There’s no sense of nervousness or trepidation on a media name discussing his analysis into Australia’s gaming inhabitants. He deftly navigates his findings, mentioning the important thing figures and, crucially, its crimson herrings.
His tone takes a noticeable shift when he will get to the range findings, which plainly level out that, in line with this research, extra ladies in Australia are enjoying videogames than males.
“This is where one kind of falls off their seat when they see a change in the data. And this time, we saw a change in the data,” Model says.
“I don’t want to make too much of it,” he provides, preempting the headlines.
“For me to be responsible and acknowledge the ups and downs of statistics, because it is within the margin of error, our sample not reflecting perfect reality.”
It’s not Professor Model’s first time navigating the nuances of media on one in every of these calls. Removed from it.
Australia Performs, a biennial report into Australia’s gaming inhabitants, has been operating for twenty years, with Professor Model at its helm your complete time.
You possibly can’t fault Australia Play’s report’s knack for selecting attention-grabbing motion pictures of individuals gaming. Supply: Australia Performs 2025.
From myth-busting to agenda setting
The research surveys over 1000 households, capturing roughly 2500 people in complete, with candidates stratified to be consultant of Australian demographics.
It’s a broad piece of analysis, asking about gaming habits, varieties of video games performed, and why they sport. This information is then damaged down by age and gender, presenting a granular have a look at the make-up and motivations of Australia’s gaming inhabitants.
As Model explains, it began as an train to show that Australia’s gaming inhabitants extends far past the stereotype of being dominated by teenage boys. It’s since morphed right into a report which each shapes coverage and informs analysis globally. It additionally proved to be instrumental proof within the gaming trade’s profitable bid to ascertain an Australian R18+ score for videogames a decade in the past.
The Interactive Gaming and Leisure Affiliation (IGEA), Australia’s peak physique for the online game trade, has backed the report since its inception. Its CEO, Ron Curry, says Australia Performs is globally the longest-running report of its sort. Different peak our bodies in different jurisdictions have turned to it for inspiration for their very own comparable research, and it additionally informs IGEA’s broader coverage efforts, he provides.
“Today, when we talk to the government about child safety and access, we can point to the fact that 81% of gamers are over 18,” Curry says. “That shifts the tone of the conversation completely.”
“We’ve normalised gaming. When we began [in 2005], gamers were the minority. Now it’s those who don’t play who are the exception,” he says.
The deep, long-running partnership between Bond College and IGEA on the report has prompted previous questions from media concerning the validity of the information. An identical level was raised in passing by this column two months in the past.
When requested, Professor Model addressed it head-on.
“Research needs to stand on its own, but it also needs funding,” he stated. “When the government commissions research, it’s typically to guide regulation or public policy. That’s an interest too.”
“Yes, IGEA wants to promote the value of videogames. But IGEA has also been incredibly open in letting us design the study independently.”
“We select the topics, do the sampling, and use a high-end panel company, Qualtrics, to manage data collection. So even that’s at arm’s length. They don’t touch it.”
“We’re upfront that this is self-reported attitudinal and behavioural data. It’s not making theoretical claims. But it establishes a baseline that other journalists, academics and policymakers can build on. That’s the value.”
The way forward for Australia Performs
Producing such a long-running report has its challenges. Effort goes into sustaining the headline information: the variety of Australians that sport, the dimensions and form of Australia’s gaming inhabitants, and different strata on how they have interaction with the medium. All of this tells a compelling story over time.
The variety of Australians who sport has remained constantly excessive for years. Supply: Australia Performs 2025.
However extra not too long ago, the information hasn’t elevated or modified that a lot from yr to yr, inserting extra give attention to the specialist areas the report delves into. This iteration centered on parental play and the way a era of teenage avid gamers when the report began at the moment are sharing their pastime with their children.
“Ten years ago, the focus was on internet connectivity,” Curry says, referring to an period when the Nationwide Broadband Community rollout was a serious know-how problem in Australia.
“Ten years before that, it was how people purchased their games — on disc, on console, or elsewhere. As the industry evolves, so will the report.”
“For example, if platforms like Roblox take 10% of the market, we’ll need to adapt the questions we ask. The report has to mature, but it will also keep its core questions so we can track long-term trends.”
Model says the ageing gamer inhabitants will yield its personal challenges that can have to be tracked.
“Australia’s population is ageing fast. Our data shows older adults tend to play alone more than socially,” he says. “That’s a public coverage alternative. And because the medium itself evolves, we’ll have extra inquiries to ask.”
“That’s the point of research, after all.”
The important thing findings from this yr’s Australia Performs research:
82% of all Australians play videogames. The typical age of avid gamers in Australia is 35.
Australia is a console-dominated market, with 74% of Australian households proudly owning no less than one gaming system. Consoles are the preferred, adopted by smartphones, then PCs.
51% of the gaming inhabitants in Australia determine as ladies, 1% determine as non-binary, and 48% determine as males. (Although as Professor Model factors out this result’s throughout the margin of error, which sits at 2.7%)
89% of oldsters play videogames with their youngsters as a way of connection. In the meantime, 75% of oldsters have guidelines in place with their youngsters round gameplay. Although, solely half of the adults surveyed stated they have been accustomed to Australia’s videogame classifications.
77% of Australians play video games socially with others. The bulk play to have enjoyable (97%), destress and calm down (95%) and to cross the time (95%).
The preferred sport style in Australia is motion/journey, adopted by puzzle video games after which shooters and intently tied with sports activities video games. Training /coaching video games have been the least widespread.
What do you consider the findings of this yr’s Australia Performs research? How essential is it to trace the demographics of avid gamers? Let me know within the feedback beneath.
Harrison Polites writes the Infinite Lives e-newsletter. Observe him right here.
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