Ranked: Most Popular Gaming Genres by Generation

Most Played Gaming Genres by Generation

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From high-fantasy adventures like Elden Ring to viral mobile hits like Candy Crush, gaming is a universally-beloved hobby enjoyed by people of all walks of life.

This visualization shows the three most popular gaming genres for each generation: Baby Boomers (1945-1964), Gen X (1965-1980), Millennials (1981-1994), Gen Z (1995-2009), and Gen Alpha (2010 and later).

The figures come from Newzoo’s Global Gamer Study 2024, which surveyed over 73,000 people across 36 markets. The percentages represents the share of respondents who played the genre on any device in the past six months.

Younger Generations Prefer Adventure and Action

Adventure games such as Skyrim, The Last of Us, and Baldur’s Gate 3 were the most popular among the three younger generations, while puzzle games like Candy Crush were the most popular for the two oldest generations.

Among Gen Z, Minecraft, Fortnite, and Call of Duty games were some of the most-played adventure titles. While the youngest generation, Alpha, shares Gen Z’s interest in adventure and action games, racing games beat out shooters for Generation Alpha’s third-most played kind of game genre.

Generally, younger generations tend to be more engaged in video games.

Around 94% of Gen Alpha and 90% of Gen Z consider themselves gaming enthusiasts, which includes playing, watching, or otherwise engaging with video games, compared to just 67% of Gen X and 47% of Baby Boomers.

Overall, console games still make up the majority of the gaming industry’s market share at 57%, compared to PC games making up 43%.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about the video game industry, check out this graphic that visualizes console launch prices, adjusted for inflation.