Americans Spent $43 Billion on Video Games in 2018

Over the next few days, thousands of video game industry insiders and gaming enthusiasts will flock to the Los Angeles Convention Center for this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Hosted by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the annual trade show is the world’s largest event for computer and video games where many of the largest players in the industry choose to show off their latest products.

While many people still shrug off video games as child’s play, that couldn’t be further from the truth. According to ESA, the average male video game player in the U.S. is 32 years old and the average female player is even older at 34. And it’s not just that: video games are a billion-dollar industry supporting more than 200,000 jobs in the United States.

As the following chart illustrates, consumer spending on video games, hardware and accessories reached a record level of $43 billion in the United States last year. Over the next few days, game publishers, console makers and other industry players will do their best to entice gamers to spend even more in 2019.