01 Players in Germany

Around 6 in 10 people in Germany play video games, making games an integral part of Germans’ media consumption. The games community is also extremely diverse.

The gender ratio among video game players has been balanced for years, with women now making up 48 per cent and men 52 per cent. In addition, in 2023, the average age of players in Germany exceeded 38 for the first time, rising to 38.2 years. This compares to an average age of 33.6 just ten years ago. One reason for this continuous increase is that many people who began playing in the 1980s and 1990s have remained devoted players as they age. A further interesting fact: around three quarters of players in Germany are over the age of 18. Contrary to the widespread image of games as a hobby of children and teenagers, many people of all ages in this country routinely reach for their controller, smartphone or PC to play.

The diversity of video game players in Germany is also reflected in platform usage. The smartphone is the most popular gaming platform among German players, 22.7 million of whom used their smartphones to play in 2023. This figure remains almost unchanged from 2022, when the total was 22.8 million. The tablet computer, on the other hand, lost approximately 200,000 players from 2022 to 2023, when about 10 million people used it as a game platform.

The tablet has nonetheless consistently remained above the 10-million mark since 2021. The overlapping use of smartphones and tablets shows the unbroken interest in mobile games. Altogether, around 24.6 million people in Germany play mobile games on smartphones, tablets or both devices. In addition, for the first time since 2019, the PC reversed its decline as a gaming platform, gaining some 600,000 players from 2022 to 2023, for a total of 13.5 million. With around 18.7 million players, the console retains its place as the second-most-used gaming platform among Germans. After a steep increase in console players over the last four years, from 15.9 to 18.9 million, the number ultimately declined again, by 200,000, in 2023. It should be emphasised that the majority of video game players in Germany don’t limit themselves to a single platform such as a smartphone, console, tablet or PC; 18.3 million play games on more than one platform.

game’s official charts show which games and genres are especially popular with players in Germany. The best-selling video game of 2023 was the soccer simulation ‘EA SPORTS FC 24’ (Electronic Arts). This sports game was released last year for the first time under the new title of the game series, which was previously known as ‘EA SPORTS FIFA’. The open-world game ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ (Warner Bros. Games), from the ‘Harry Potter’ universe, captured second place in the annual charts. It was followed in third place by the long-awaited ‘Diablo IV’ (Activision Blizzard), the latest instalment in the RPG series of the same name. The first-person shooter ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’ (Activision Blizzard) took fourth place, and fifth place went to the action adventure ‘The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’ (Nintendo), which continues the story of the well-known protagonists Link and Princess Zelda. A video game developed in Germany also made it into the charts: ‘Anno 1800: Console Edition’ (Ubisoft), a version of the city-building strategy game specially reworked for the console gaming experience. A particularly large number of outstanding blockbuster games was thus offered across all genres in 2023, much to the excitement of every video game fan in Germany.