How users interact with technological devices is constantly evolving. Depending on which generation they belong to, they will do so in one way or another.
Currently, minors belong to the so-called ‘ Generation Z ‘, users who have grown up in an environment where the Internet, social networks, and video games are permanently present in society. The age structure of game users has shifted from generation to generation, and Generation Z has become the main user group. Game users are gradually becoming younger.
According to the Pew Research Center, millennials were born between the 1980s and 1997, and Generation Z began in 1997. That means that Generation Z is in their early 20s at their oldest, putting them at an ideal age for being part of the gaming community – and it also means they’ve been around modern gaming tech since birth.
Video Games and Generation Z
Until recently, online gaming wasn’t the standard of gaming. Instead, multiplayer games were carried out in a single room, with friends using remote controls to play against one another. When Sony introduced online gaming to PlayStation 2, access to other gamers opened up. That meant that players could play against their friends though they weren’t in the same place. According to independent reviews on Britainreviews.co.uk, users could play against strangers from any part of the world.
This is the sort of gaming Generation Z was raised on – and it’s made a serious impact on the gaming industry. As many as 68% of Generation Z males say that gaming plays a major role in their identity. You are advised to find internet companies online reviews to enable you to choose a trusted and reliable service provider
Gaming is not just a hobby to this group of people; it’s how they define themselves, and it drives most choices and decisions they take, e.g the brands and tech they favour.
Generation Z and its Influence in the Gaming World
Generation Z is changing the stigma of gamers, one that’s been reinforced in the media for many years. Gaming has transitioned from being just leisure time anymore, or solo time for introverts – it’s part of a player’s social life now, often defined by connection instead of seclusion. Here are some other common stereotypes of gamers:
- Gamers eat junk food while playing games for hours.
- Gamers waste their productive time playing game
- Most gamers don’t have any hobbies aside from gaming.
Generation Z is changing all of that – slowly but shortly. The rest of the populace is catching on as they see the tremendous influence that Generation Z has on the gaming industry. Either way, you examine it, it’s massive and edging out other kinds of media like movies and music.
The Generation Z Attraction
Smart brands are finding clever ways to appeal to Generation Z, which doesn’t mean being present or featuring on a video game system. Instead, that would mean turning up where gaming conversations are happening, like on YouTube or Twitch.
Brands can co-create a Twitch stream or find ways to ease the burden on a gamer’s life, like by delivering food, the way UberEats did. This is almost how any brand connects with any audience base – they find out what other things the audience is into, then they show up there.
Most generations find it difficult to understand what Generation Z is about. There’s a general agreement that Gen Z is lonely, but that would be a misinterpretation of the truth. Instead, social interactions may have evolved into ways that are not considered social initially. Connecting online and via video games is a different sort of connection, but it’s the sort that Generation Z has grown up with.