Yes. Video games are part of life for some affluent people, according to research on an audience defined by high income. But the available evidence does not show what share of billionaires play, or prove that every wealthy person does.
What does the research say about gaming among higher-income people?
An Ipsos summary of its Global Influentials research describes an audience in the top 20% by income across 43 markets. In its June 15, 2026 article, Ipsos reports that 56% of this audience owned a video-game or handheld console, and that 44% had played games on a smartphone in the preceding 30 days. Those findings support a straightforward conclusion: gaming is represented among an upper-income audience.
Ownership and recent play are different measures. Owning a console does not establish how often someone uses it, while smartphone gaming in the previous 30 days does not tell us whether play was occasional or regular. Ipsos also gives a separate console-ownership figure of 48% in another passage. Because the summary presents multiple figures and the underlying report’s definitions are not available here, the figures should not be combined or treated as interchangeable. Ipsos’s summary does not provide a rate for billionaires specifically.
Does that mean billionaires play video games?
Some may, but the available figures cannot answer how many. Ipsos’s audience is defined by income rank—not billionaire status—and its summary does not break results out by wealth bracket. It is therefore reasonable to say that video games are played by some people in a high-income audience, but not to claim a particular percentage of billionaires play.
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“Rich” can also mean different things: high income, substantial assets, or membership in an exceptionally wealthy group. The Ipsos finding applies to its top-20%-by-income audience, not automatically to every definition of wealth.
Why do broad gaming statistics not settle the question?
Large surveys show that gaming is widespread in the general population, but they do not establish a wealthy-person rate. Their populations and definitions differ from Ipsos’s high-income audience.
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| Source and date | Population and measure | Reported finding |
|---|---|---|
| Circana, 2024 | U.S. consumers; plays video games | 71% |
| Circana, 2024 | U.S. gamers; plays on a smartphone or tablet | 92% |
| Circana, 2024 | U.S. gamers; spent zero dollars on video-game products in the prior six months | 46% |
| Entertainment Software Association, 2024 | Americans ages 5–90; plays at least one hour per week | 61%, or approximately 190.6 million people |
| Entertainment Software Association, 2024 | Average age of a U.S. video-game player | 36 years |
The ESA’s survey was conducted online in the United States from October 23–31, 2023, among 5,000 respondents. Circana’s figures are U.S. general-population findings, not income comparisons. Neither can be used to infer how wealthy people play.
Does playing mean someone is a “gamer”?
No. Reporting that you play a game and identifying as a gamer are distinct things. In a 2015 U.S. survey, Pew Research Center found that 50% of men and 48% of women said they played video games; 15% of men and 6% of women said “gamer” described them well. The survey did not report results by income, but it illustrates why a study asking whether someone plays may produce a different answer from one asking whether they identify as a gamer. Pew Research Center’s findings are older and should not be treated as a current estimate.
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What can we conclude about wealthy people and video games?
- Yes, gaming-related ownership and recent play appear in research on a high-income audience.
- The clearest direct evidence is Ipsos’s top-20%-by-income audience across 43 markets, not a survey of billionaires.
- Console ownership, recent phone play, weekly play, and gamer identity measure different things.
- General U.S. gaming statistics establish that gaming is common across the population, not that it is more or less common at a particular wealth level.
For context, video games can be played on phones, consoles, PCs, and laptops; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also discusses in-game transactions and player data across the medium in its issue spotlight. The device or spending involved does not, by itself, indicate a player’s income or wealth.
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