Overview

• An online survey of 6,435 people in March identified 1,203 frequent players, with the findings released as Gamescom opens in Cologne this week.
• Among frequent gamers, 38% report being insulted often while playing, with some facing threats of violence or rape and some women disguising their gender in multiplayer games.
• Intensive players show elevated prejudice, with 43% agreeing that Jews have too much influence and higher rates of sexist and queerphobic views than in the broader sample.
• Loneliness is pronounced in this group, with 58% reporting moderate to strong loneliness versus 43% across all respondents, and the cohort skews 75% male with 55% aged 16–34.
• Political activity runs higher too, with 27% attending demonstrations in the past year compared with 14% overall, and about half discussing politics with other players on platforms such as Twitch or Discord.