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The Players They are A-

Changin': The Rise of Older
MMO Gamers
a
Aaron Alan Delwiche & Jennifer Jacobs Henderson
b

a
Department of Communication , Trinity University
b
Department of Communication , Trinity University
in San Antonio , Texas
Published online: 06 Jun 2013.

To cite this article: Aaron Alan Delwiche & Jennifer Jacobs Henderson (2013) The
Players They are A-Changin': The Rise of Older MMO Gamers, Journal of Broadcasting
& Electronic Media, 57:2, 205-223, DOI: 10.1080/08838151.2013.787077

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 The Players They are A-Changin’:
The Rise of Older MMO Gamers
Aaron Alan Delwiche and Jennifer Jacobs Henderson

To learn more about demographic characteristics, play behaviors, and motiva-

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tions of massively multiplayer online gamers over the age of 50, researchers ad-
ministered a questionnaire to 32,261 Wizard101 subscribers. Cross-referencing
responses with behavioral data recorded by game servers, researchers found
that older players were significantly more likely to be women. Older players
played longer and underestimated their playtime, they were less likely to play
on console and hand-held systems, and they were less likely to cite social,
achievement, and player versus player combat motivations. However, older
online gamers were more likely to cite self-growth and learning motivations
for game play than those under 50.

Despite impressive strides in other areas, games researchers have been largely
silent on the topic of older gamers.1 Regardless of methodological orientation,
most gaming research focuses on adolescents and young adults (Griffiths, Davies
& Chappell, 2004a). As De Schutter (2011) notes, there has been some scrutiny of
older gamers by software engineers interested in interface usability (Khoo, Merritt, &
Cheok, 2009) and by researchers documenting ways games might affect the health
of elderly citizens (Basak, Boot, Voss, & Kramer, 2008; Weaver et al., 2009), but
this work tends to conceptualize video games as potentially problematic in the lives
of older people. Few published works acknowledge that older adults play games
online because they are fun. Gaming publications and developers target a young
male audience (Lucas & Sherry, 2004), and stereotypical assumptions about the
gaming habits of older adults are widespread.
However, according to figures reported by the Entertainment Software Association
(ESA) in 2011, 29% of gamers were over the age of 50 (p. 2). Pearce (2008) found
that the percentage of Baby Boomer gamers ‘‘equals or perhaps even exceeds their
percentage of the overall population’’ (p. 144). While these data do not differentiate

Aaron Alan Delwiche (Ph.D., University of Washington) is an associate professor in the Department of
Communication at Trinity University. His research interests include participatory culture, intergenerational
gaming, and wearable computing.
Jennifer Jacobs Henderson (Ph.D., University of Washington) is an associate professor and chair of the
Department of Communication at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Her research interests include
media law, ethics of media, and the use of participatory culture for political and social action.
© 2013 Broadcast Education Association Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 57(2), 2013, pp. 205–223
DOI: 10.1080/08838151.2013.787077 ISSN: 0883-8151 print/1550-6878 online

205
 206 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2013

between game genres, older players are certainly present in massively multiplayer
games—those games with a persistent online world that allows for player interaction
through individual avatars. For example, Williams, Yee, and Caplan (2008) found
that 17.2% of players in the popular MMO Everquest II are over the age of 40.
Clearly, there is something happening that games researchers have yet to explain.
As others have noted, there is an ‘‘urgent need for research on older computer
gamers’’ (Quandt, Grueninger, & Wimmer, 2009, p. 29).
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Who Plays and How Often Do They Play?

Several recent studies suggest gamers are older than is often assumed. In Griffiths,
Davies, and Chappell’s (2004a) survey of more than 500 Everquest players, the mean
age of participants was 27.9. A much larger study of more than 7,000 Everquest
II players (Williams et al., 2008) reported a median age of 31. Data also suggest
a more complicated pattern in terms of gender dynamics. Although some studies
report low female representation among adolescents and post-adolescents (Griffiths,
Davies, & Chappell, 2004b), research on older cohorts suggests the opposite. In a
survey of 271 ‘‘self-identified Baby Boomer’’ gamers, Pearce (2008) found that 57%
of respondents were women. DeSchutter (2011) surveyed 124 gamers between the
ages of 45 and 85, and approximately 58% of respondents were women. Again,
the ESA (2011) agrees, noting that ‘‘women age 18 or older represent a significantly
greater portion of the game playing population (37%) than boys age 17 or younger
(13%)’’ (p. 3).
Some dismiss such statistics as little more than evidence of casual gaming. But
what does it mean to characterize a commitment to gaming as ‘‘casual?’’ If one
follows the example of other researchers (Royse, Lee, Undrahbuyan, Hopson, &
Consalvo, 2007), the key differentiator separating power gamers from casual players
is the amount of time devoted to gaming. Recent evidence suggests that women and
older gamers spend more time playing their favorite games. Williams et al. (2008)
examined server logs and found that mean weekly playtime increased in direct
proportion to the age of players. In a follow-up study, Williams, Consalvo, Caplan,
and Yee (2009) discovered players systematically underestimate playing time and
women are three times more likely to do so.
Building upon this research, this study addresses the following hypotheses related
to age and gender of gamers:

H1 : Among MMO players over the age of 50, there will be a significantly greater
percentage of women compared to younger players.
H2a : On average, MMO players over the age of 50 will play more than younger
players.
H2b : On average, MMO players over the age of 50 will underestimate their time
spent gaming to a greater degree than younger players.
 Delwiche and Henderson/THE RISE OF OLDER MMO GAMERS 207

How Do They Play?

In her study of more than 200 Baby Boomer gamers, Pearce (2008) noticed that
less than one-fifth owned gaming consoles or hand-held gaming systems. Pearce
used the term platform generation gap to describe this phenomenon in which
‘‘console and portable gaming devices in the household are considered primarily
the children’s domain’’ (p. 7). DeSchutter (2011) also discovered that older gamers
were characterized by low usage of consoles and a strong preference for PC-based
computer games. Many game-related publications and marketing campaigns assume
that gamers’ voracious appetites drive them to seek out content across a wide range
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of devices, but this may not be the case for older players. We investigated further
with the following three hypotheses related to platform preference:

H3a : MMO players over the age of 50 will be more likely than younger players to
play on a personal computer.
H3b : MMO players over the age of 50 will be less likely than younger players to
play games on consoles.
H3c : MMO players over the age of 50 will be less likely than younger players to
play on handheld gaming systems.

Why Do They Play?

The uses and gratifications perspective is premised on the notion that ‘‘communi-
cation behavior, including media selection and use, is goal-directed, purposive, and
motivated’’ (Rubin, 1994, p. 420). This approach is grounded in the earliest days of
communication research, with scholars using it to understand classical music fans
(Suchman, 1942), game show audiences (Herzog, 1942), and newspaper readers
(Berelson, 1949). Reviewing common characteristics linking hundreds of disparate
studies, Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch (1973) identified five core assumptions under-
pinning the model: (1) the audience is conceptualized as active rather than passive,
(2) the emphasis is on how people use media rather than media effects, (3) media
compete with traditional forms of need satisfaction, (4) audiences are ‘‘sufficiently
self-aware’’ to be trusted to report their motivations accurately, and (5) value judg-
ments about cultural merits of media are subordinated to understanding audience
orientations on their own terms (p. 511).
In this seminal work, Katz et al. (1973) identified a fundamental theoretical chal-
lenge: every major uses and gratifications study adopts its own classification scheme
because investigators ‘‘have focused on different levels of study (e.g., medium
or content) and different materials (e.g., different programs or program types on,
say, television) in different cultures : : : ’’ (p. 512). With the advent of the Internet
and explosion of digital media technologies—each with their own medium-specific
properties (Meyrowitz, 1997)—the proliferation of different classification schemes
has accelerated. Previous generations of researchers focused on developing unifying
 208 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2013

theories for understanding media audiences, but contemporary scholars are more
likely to use grounded methods (Dervin, Foreman-Wernet, & Lauterbach, 2003;
Geertz, 1973) to develop localized and site-specific analyses of social phenomena.
Though some might view the proliferation of classification schemes as problem-
atic, the broad range of frameworks is a good thing for researchers studying the
ways people use new media technologies such as online games. Researchers can
adapt existing instruments or create new ones matched to the demands of local
research sites. In fact, Newhagen and Rafaeli (1996) suggest that the uses and
gratifications approach is ideal for studying new media because it addresses the
mutability problem, what Newhagen refers to as the ‘‘chameleon-like’’ nature of the
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Internet (p. 11). As Katz et al. (1973) so aptly observed, audiences are fully capable
of discussing their own motivations. Thus, this study assesses audience gratifications
through a combination of traditional motivation measures and a content analysis of
open-ended questions.
In an attempt to understand why people of any age choose to play video games,
researchers have branched in two directions. First, hewing closely to the rich tra-
dition of uses and gratifications research, Sherry, Lucas, Greenberg, and Lachlan
(2006) identified six key gratifications: competition, challenge, social interaction,
diversion, fantasy, and arousal. Subsequent researchers adapted this framework to
study younger players of free online games in the Netherlands (Walma der Molen &
Jongbloed, 2007) as well as the motivations of K-12 and college-age students in the
United States (Greenberg, Sherry, Lachlan, Lucas, & Holmstrom, 2010). In all of this
work, challenge consistently emerged as the most important motivation. Tamborini,
Bowman, Eden, Grizzard, and Organ (2010) found enjoyment was related to ‘‘the
satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs’’ in video game play
(p. 769). Hou (2011) synthesized findings from previous research on social networks,
gaming, and Internet use, and found that diversion and social interaction were
primary motives.
A second branch has analyzed gamer motivations in the specific context of
massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Bartle (1996) identified four types
of players: achievers (motivated by game-related accomplishments), explorers (fas-
cinated by exploring virtual worlds), socializers (driven by social interaction), and
killers (motivated by the desire to cause distress to other players). Building on
Bartle’s taxonomy, Yee (2006) surveyed 3,000 on-line gamers and concluded that
their motivations could be understood in terms of three overarching dimensions:
achievement, social interaction, and immersion. Subsequently, Yee’s Motivation
Inventory has been used to assess player motivations in Everquest II (Williams
et al., 2008), role-playing in on-line games (Williams, Kennedy, & Moore, 2010),
gender roles of on-line gamers (Williams et al., 2009), and the relationship between
psychosocial well-being and on-line behavior (Shen & Williams, 2011).
Recent qualitative studies shed light on the motivations of older gamers. Pearce
(2008) reported that 80% of Baby Boomer gamers valued intellectual challenges,
helping newcomers, and social interaction. De Schutter and Abeele (2010) discov-
ered that Flemish gamers over the age of 50 look for three components in meaningful
 Delwiche and Henderson/THE RISE OF OLDER MMO GAMERS 209

play: interaction with others (connectedness), opportunities for growth and learning
(cultivation), and opportunities to support the community (contribution). Quandt
et al. (2009) found that older gamers were more focused on social dimensions
than on in-game achievements and combat-related accomplishment. Applying Yee’s
(2005, 2006) motivations, Bowman, Schultheiss, and Schumann’s (2012) study of
501 US and German gamers reported that older gamers were more likely than young
players to cite pro-social motivations for gaming.
Research on life cycles and human development from the field of social psy-
chology provides a theoretical foundation for understanding these pro-social moti-
vations. Erikson’s life cycle model divides human psychosocial development into
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eight stages: infancy, childhood, preschool, school age, adolescent, young adult-
hood, middle adulthood, and maturity. Each stage is premised on human needs
during the life cycle and the repercussions of success and failure at each stage.
In this model, middle adulthood (ages 45 to 65) is characterized by generativity—
a vital stage of psychosocial development that emphasizes ‘‘caring, nurturing and
maintaining’’ (Erikson, Erikson, & Kivnick, 1986, p. 73). As Warburton and Gooch
(2007) note, generativity is an important motivation for volunteerism and it also plays
a crucial role in helping older adults finding meaning and happiness as they navigate
subsequent stages of the life cycle. This life stage is also one in which the nature
of social interaction shifts. Lansford, Sherman, and Antonucci (1998) found that
older adults ‘‘deliberately withdraw from social contact in peripheral relationships,
while maintaining or increasing involvement in relationships with close friends and
family,’’ a concept they term socioemotional selectivity (p. 544).
Biology may also play a role in what motivates older games to participate in
online games. For example, researchers have found a strong relationship between
sex hormones and competitiveness among both men (Mehta & Josephs, 2006) and
women (Stanton & Schultheiss, 2007), and a gradual decline in estrogen in women
and testosterone in men is an inevitable part of the aging process.
This past research on the motivations for gaming suggests the following four
hypotheses:

H4a : MMO players over the age of 50 will be more likely than younger players
to cite social motivations for playing.
H4b : MMO players over the age of 50 will be less likely than younger players to
cite achievement-related motivations as reasons for play.
H4c : MMO players over the age of 50 will be more likely to cite self-growth and
learning related motivations as reasons for play.
H4d : MMO players over the age of 50 will be less likely than younger players to
cite player-vs-player combat as an important motivation.

Communication researchers have long been bedeviled by the gap between what
people say they do and what they actually do. Although self-reported media use is
widely acknowledged as unreliable, it is generally accepted as a valid measure of
audience behaviors because it is the only option available to researchers (Roberts
 210 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2013

& Foehr, 2008). In the case of on-line games, researchers are no longer forced to
rely on self-reports. Because many on-line games require individual user accounts,
researchers can correlate self-reported survey data with server logs that record a
wide range of behaviors including total playtime. This methodological approach
overcomes one of the most significant barriers to accurate games research (Williams,
2010). The viability of this technique was first demonstrated in 2006 by scholars
affiliated with the Virtual World Exploratorium when Sony Online Entertainment
(SOE) made it possible for researchers to survey 7,000 players of the on-line game
Everquest II, and have access to server data that recorded players’ online behaviors.
This single pool of data provided the basis for more than a dozen published studies
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on such topics as game use and psychosocial well-being (Shen & Williams, 2011),
role-playing (Williams et al., 2010), gender relationships (Williams et al., 2009),
gamer motivations and play behaviors (Williams et al., 2008), and macro-economic
patterns in virtual worlds (Castranova et al., 2009).

Methods

Sampling and Procedures

During a 3-week period in March 2011, a web-based survey was administered to

32,261 paying players of the family-oriented massively multiplayer online adventure
game Wizard101. Boasting more than 20 million registered users (Cifaldi, 2011),
the game has been praised by parents and educators for its educational value, its
ease of play, and its cooperative elements (Koh, 2008). Wizard101 combines cross-
generational appeal with surprisingly deep game mechanics and its visual aesthetics,
gameplay, and overall polish have received high marks from gaming publications
that typically target hardcore players (Ford, 2011).
In order to guarantee high quality data, players were only eligible to participate in
the survey if they were active subscribers, if they had purchased crowns (in-game
currency) with a credit card during the last 30 days, or if they had redeemed a
Wizard101 game card for membership time within the past 30 days. Players who
met these criteria were given an incentive of 1,000 crowns (approximately USD $2)
in exchange for completing the survey.

Close-ended Survey Questions.

Three versions of the survey were created: one for adults (M D 37.8, SD D 12.32,
n D 16,881), one for minors between the ages of 13 and 17 (M D 14.2, SD D 1.28,
n D 6,345) and one for children under the age of 13 (M D 10.25, SD D 1.51, n D
9,035). In addition to basic demographic information (gender and age), respondents
were asked about their overall gaming frequency, the frequency with which they
played Wizard101, and the people with whom they most often played. In deference
to the fact that many participants were minors, most of the survey questions were
 Delwiche and Henderson/THE RISE OF OLDER MMO GAMERS 211

optional. Thus, by design, all variables linked to non-mandatory questions contain

slight variations in the amount of missing data. For example, questions about gender
(n D 31,955), gaming frequency (n D 33,097), and estimated weekly playtime (n D
31,035) generated a different number of responses. When conducting statistical
tests, all cases with missing variables were dropped for the analysis under question.
During preliminary data analysis, ANOVA and multiple regression tests were used to
slice the data according to generational cohorts. Upon further reflection, it became
clear that this approach muddied the study’s attempt to compare two groups of
people: older and younger gamers. Thus, when the two groups were compared
in terms of parametric measures, a two-sample t-test that does not assume equal
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variance was performed. When the two groups were compared on the basis of
nominal measures, chi-square tests were conducted.

Who Plays?
All players were asked to share their gender and age. A chi-square test was
performed to test the hypothesis that, among players over the age of 50, women
would constitute a significantly greater percentage of players.

How Much do They Play?

In order to measure estimated playtime, all participants were asked how much
they played Wizard101 each week and, in line with Roberts and Foehr’s (2008)
methodological recommendations, how much time they had spent with Wizard101
the previous day. Actual weekly playtime was determined by examining server logs
and an estimate gap was calculated by subtracting estimated from actual weekly
playtime. To test the hypotheses that players over the age of 50 played more often
than those under the age of 50 and that players over the age of 50 would be more
likely than younger players to underestimate the amount of time that they played,
two-sample t-tests that did not assume equal variance were performed.

How Do They Play?

All participants were asked if they played games on personal computers, hand-
held gaming consoles, and home gaming consoles. Two-sample t-tests not assuming
equal variance were performed to test the hypotheses that players over the age of
50 would be more likely than those under of the age of 50 to play on a personal
computer and less likely to play on hand-held gaming systems and home gaming
consoles.

Why Do They Play?

On the survey, close-ended instruments adapted from previous research on mas-

sively multiplayer online games were used to assess participant motivations. All par-
ticipants were asked nine questions based on the inventory of motivations designed
by Yee (2006) and later modified by Williams et al. (2009). This scale included
 212 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2013

two achievement questions, three sociability questions, and one question each
related to role-playing and player versus player (PvP) combat. Each item asked
respondents to express their level of agreement with a series of statements on
a 5-point Likert scale with 1 corresponding to ‘‘not important’’ and 5 to ‘‘very
important.’’ Three items were connected to sociability: ‘‘making new friends,’’
‘‘chatting with other players,’’ and ‘‘teaming up with other players.’’ According
to the criteria recommended by George and Mallery (2003), Cronbach’s alpha
reliability coefficient for the sociability subscale indicated good internal consistency,
˛ D 0.81. Two items were connected to achievement: ‘‘getting new spells’’ and
‘‘gaining new levels.’’ Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient indicated acceptable
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internal consistency within the achievement subscale, ˛ D 0.71. One item was
considered for the role-playing motivation: ‘‘being my character.’’ A single item on
the survey addressed the motivation of PvP combat, asking participants to rank the
importance of ‘‘winning PvP combat.’’
Motivation measures were supplemented with behavioral data recorded on game
servers. This includes data related to sociability (total chat interactions and total
online friends), achievement (total levels achieved and total crafting instances), and
player versus player combat (total instances of PvP combat). In order to eliminate
time as a potential confound, the server data was converted to hourly rates based
on the total number of hours participants had spent in the game world during the
study period.

Content Analysis of Open-Ended Responses

In an attempt to maximize the survey’s breadth, close-ended measures were

supplemented with several open-ended questions related to family play dynamics,
household rules governing screen time, and players’ overall perceptions of the
game. In compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA),
players under the age of 13 were not asked open-ended questions. Participants
were surprisingly willing to share their thoughts, with response rates approaching
48% on some of the open-ended questions. Although the open-ended items were
included to shed light on a separate set of research questions related to gaming as
a family pastime, a cursory analysis of participant responses made it clear that this
data could also play a crucial role in understanding player motivations.
Specifically, in responses to the open-ended question ‘‘Is there anything else
you think we should know about what Wizard101 means to you’’ participants
(n D 11,050) articulated a broad range of play gratifications that were not covered
in the close-ended motivation scale. In order to mine this data for meaningful
patterns, researchers created a classification scheme based on Sherry et al.’s (2006)
exploration of gamer gratifications, Hou’s (2011) research on gratifications of social
media games, Williams et al.’s (2008) work on multiplayer games, and previous
research on the motivations of older gamers (De Schutter & Abeele, 2010; Pearce,
2008; Quandt et al., 2009). Composed of 24 items in total, the classification scheme
 Delwiche and Henderson/THE RISE OF OLDER MMO GAMERS 213

included items related to social connectedness, social investigation, challenge, com-

petition, achievement, cultivation, health, arousal, fantasy, diversion, exploration,
accessibility, economic value, game mechanics, all-ages appeal, and game safety.
This framework was used as the basis for content analysis of the open-ended
comments. Researchers randomly sampled and coded responses from both older
players (n D 467) and younger players (n D 916). To establish intercoder reliability,
two coders applied the classification scheme to several small test samples of 100
responses each. The two coders achieved 96% agreement on a reliability sample of
300 responses (K. alpha D 0.92).
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Results

Due to the very large sample size, almost all statistical tests registered significant
differences at the p < 0.001 level. In order to facilitate interpretation of practical
significance, Cramer’s v is reported for all Chi-Squares and Cohen’s d is reported for
all t tests. Cohen’s (1988) guidelines were used to interpret the effect size associated
with the value of d, with 0.2 suggesting a small effect, 0.5 suggesting a medium
effect, and anything larger than 0.8 suggesting a large effect.

Who Plays?

As hypothesized (H1 ), the percentage of female players over the age of 50 was
significantly greater than those under the age of 50 (v D 0.14). The study found
62% of players over the age of 50 were female while 36.7% of players under
50 were female. The opposite pattern emerged regarding men: 38% were over
50 and 63.3% were under 50 (see Table 1). In terms of gender and age, player
demographics closely mirrored trends observed by other researchers. The most
recent data published by the Entertainment Software Association (2011) indicated
that women constitute 42% of the overall gaming population; women constitute
38.4% of our total sample. Williams, Yee, and Caplan (2008) reported that the
mean age of EQ2 players was 31.16. When controlling to match the ESRB rating of
EQ2, the mean age of players in our sample was 31.3.

Table 1
Who Plays?

Over 50 Under 50

Female Male n Female Male n 2 df v p

Gender 62% 38% 2,643 36.7% 63.3% 29,306 655.45 1 0.14 <0.001
 214 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2013

Table 2
How Often Do They Play?

Over 50 Under 50

M SD n M SD n t df d p

Actual weekly 24.65 20.25 2,670 15.60 15.75 29,585 22.48 2,967.69 0.45 <0.001
(hrs)
Estimated 21.08 16.63 2,602 17.46 18.15 28,427 10.55 3,196 0.22 <0.001
weekly (hrs)
Estimate gap 3.44 20.19 2,602 1.80 20.05 28,427 12.67 3,089.40 0.26
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<0.001

How Often Do They Play?

Results pertaining to play frequency are summarized in Table 2. In support of H2a ,

players over the age of 50 played significantly more often than younger players (d D
0.45)—an average of 24.65 hours per week compared to 15.6 hours. In support of
H2b , players over the age of 50 were significantly more likely to underestimate
their average weekly playtime (d D 0.26). Older players underestimated weekly
playtime by 3.44 hours per week, while younger players overestimated by 1.8 hours
per week.

How Do They Play?

Findings related to Pearce’s ‘‘generational platform gap’’ are summarized in Ta-

ble 3. Contrary to H3a , older players were not more likely to play games on a
personal computer. However, the results clearly supported both H3b and H3c . Older
players were significantly less likely to play on a console system such as an Xbox
360 or Sony Playstation (v D 0.13). They were also less likely to play on hand-held
gaming systems (v D 0.10).

Table 3
How Do They Play?

Over 50 Under 50

Played n Played n 2 df V p

Personal 62.6% 2,670 63.7% 29,585 1.22 1 0.01 0.27

computer
Console 51% 2,670 72% 29,585 517.68 1 0.13 <0.001
Handheld 16.4% 2,670 33.7% 29,585 334.61 1 0.10 <0.001
 Delwiche and Henderson/THE RISE OF OLDER MMO GAMERS 215

Why Do They Play?

Hypothesis 4a—that players over the age of 50 would be more likely to cite social
motivations—was not supported (see Table 4). Older players were significantly less
likely to mention social motivations for playing (d D 0.34). Furthermore, when
server data was adjusted to reflect differences in playing times, older players were
less likely to engage in public or private chats (d D 0.45) and had far fewer in-game
friends than younger players (d D 0.06). However, older players were not in-game
loners. In fact, 16% of their open-ended responses mentioned the importance of
social connectedness to family via the game (see Table 5).
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Data supported H4b that players over the age of 50 would be less likely to
cite achievement related motivations as reasons for play. Older players scored
significantly lower on the achievement index than younger players (d D 0.21).
Nearly twice as many younger players (7.4%) compared to those over 50 (4.3%)
mentioned achievement-related motivations in their open-ended responses. This
finding was supported by behavioral data in the server logs. Those over the age of
50 gained levels at a slower rate than younger players (d D 0.22). Older players
were, however, more likely to engage in instances of crafting than their younger
counterparts (d D 0.09).
Tentative support was found for H4c that older players would be more likely to
identify the game as an important vehicle for learning, personal growth, and overall
cognitive fitness. In responses to open-ended questions, 14.3% of older players cited
the importance self-growth and learning compared to only 5.8% of younger players
(v D 0.26).
Data clearly supported H4d that older players would be less likely than younger
players to cite player versus player combat as an important motivation. Not only
were older players significantly less likely to cite PvP as a motivation (d D 0.70),
but the hourly rate of PvP instances was much lower for older players than for those
under the age of 50 (d D 0.03).

Discussion

Who Plays?

Replicating findings reported by Pearce (2008), De Schutter and Abeele (2010),

and the ESA (2011), this study provides additional evidence that the gaming land-
scape is not the exclusive domain of male adolescents. 36.7% of younger players
were women, as were 62% of players over 50.

How Often Do They Play?

Supporting Williams et al.’s (2008) finding that average playtime increased in

direct proportion to the age of players, this study found that older players played
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Table 4
Why Do They Play? (Survey and Server Logs)

Over 50 Under 50

M SD n M SD n t df d p

Sociability index 9.9 3.38 2,544 11.03 3.25 28,155 16.13 2,985.24 0.34 <0.001

216
Chat frequency 14.56 19.85 2,670 27.52 35.72 29,572 29.68 4,423.26 0.45 <0.001
Adjusted friend total 22.23 222.14 2,670 48.40 534.50 29,572 4.93 3,937.15 0.06 <0.001
Achievement index 8.98 1.36 2,572 9.25 1.22 28,425 9.613 2,955.63 0.21 <0.001
Adjusted levels gained .1395 .1596 2,670 .1867 .2475 29,572 4.93 6,039.47 0.22 <0.001
Adjusted crafting total .0507 .0988 2,670 .0399 .1179 29.572 5.281 3,393.55 0.09 <0.001
Player vs. Player index 1.99 1.32 2,534 3.0 1.54 28,496 36.36 3,179.95 0.70 <0.001
Adjusted PvP instances .0128 .1567 2,670 .3738 18.28 29,572 3.395 29,618.9 0.03 <0.001
 Delwiche and Henderson/THE RISE OF OLDER MMO GAMERS 217

Table 5
Why Do They Play? (Open-ended Questions)

Over 50 (n D 468) Under 50 (n D 916)

Motivation % Motivation %

Family connectedness 16.0 Family connectedness 18.0

Personal growth and learning 14.3 Diversion and escape 8.7
Health 12.6 Making new friends 8.3
Connect with friends 6.2 Connect with friends 8.2
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Diversion and escape 6.0 Health 8.1

Combat loneliness 5.8 Role-playing 7.7

significantly more than younger players. There are many possible explanations for
this finding. Many older players reported they were home during the day because
they were retired, stay-at-home parents, or confined by health restrictions. One
58 year-old man wrote, ‘‘i am retired and this game has consumed much of what
would otherwise be many dull days.’’ Older players also mentioned that the game
space was used for ‘‘family time’’ as well as ‘‘me time’’—a multi-use space that
allowed for interaction with other family members, relaxation and stress relief. One
51 year-old female player wrote: ‘‘My friends and I make a ‘date night’ to play Wiz
together and have a blast even though our physical distance is quite far apart. It
makes us feel as if we are truely [sic] together.’’
It is not surprising that younger players would log fewer game hours. According
to the ESA (2011), 80% of parents place time limits on video game playing (p. 6).
Past research shows that those children whose parents set media time allotments use
those media for fewer hours on average than their counterparts with no restrictions
(Lee, Bartolic, & Vandewater, 2009; Vandewater, Park, Huang, & Wartella, 2005).
In addition to playing more often, older players were significantly more likely to
underestimate their playtime. Several possible explanations arise from open-ended
responses. Many participants noted that they were surprised how often they played
without their children or grandchildren. A 59 year-old participant wrote, ‘‘I play
mostly for sake of my grandkids, but I find myself playing many hours,’’ and a
second 58 year-old female player wrote, ‘‘I originally started this game for my
grandson when he came over, and I started playing when he wasn’t over and I
got hooked lol.’’ Underestimation may also be linked to the stereotypical view of
gamers as young men with impaired social skills. Older players may hesitate to
publicly embrace their gaming habit for fear of being branded ‘‘weird.’’

How Do They Play?

Replicating Pearce’s ‘‘generational platform gap,’’ this study found that older
players were much less likely to play on game consoles and hand-held gaming
 218 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2013

systems. This is not surprising. These devices are often viewed as ‘‘children’s toys’’
and computers are considered to be adult productivity tools. Many adults are wary
of publicly embracing a childish ‘‘toy’’ (Beck & Wade, 2004, p. 28). In addition,
Chang, Pan, Tseng, and Stoffregen (2012) found that adults are more likely than
children to get motion sickness from console games. Computer gaming, then, may
be both physically and socially more comfortable for older players.

Why do They Play?

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In the sociability index, older players were less likely to cite social motivations
for playing. Server logs demonstrated that they were also less likely to engage
in public or private chats. These findings support the socioemotional selectivity
theory, which posits that older players would have fewer, but closer, socioemotional
connections (Lansford et al., 1998). A content analysis of open-ended questions,
however, revealed social connectedness to family was the primary motivation for
online gameplay among those over 50. The motivation of family connectedness
supports ESA survey results that showed 34% of gamers in 2011 played with family
(ESA 2011) as well as previous scholarly findings that older gamers do value social
interaction (DeSchutter & Abeele, 2010; Pearce, 2008; Quandt et al., 2009).
Responses to open-ended questions demonstrated that the close-ended items
failed to capture the more complex range of interactions associated with socioemo-
tional selectivity. While the close-ended questions emphasized social investigation
(making new friends) they were less attuned to social connectedness (maintaining
and deepening on-going social relationships). Many viewed the game as a vital
source of emotional support during difficult times, and shift workers reported that
the game gave them opportunities for social interaction at a time when most people
in their immediate environment were sleeping. ‘‘I also play the game with friends
from other parts of the world and we meet in the spiral [the gameworld] on a
regular basis,’’ explained one player in her late 50s. ‘‘We all approach the game
as a learning tool—one that reveals many hidden things about us (like jealousy,
stubbornness, selfishness, etc.). This gives us an opportunity to talk about these issues
and learn to overcome them in real life.’’ While this study was not able to measure
the strength of relationships between players, other research on intergenerational
gaming (Shen & Williams, 2011) has found that within-family play reinforces player
bonding.
Many participants mentioned how much they enjoyed advising players on topics
ranging from in-game mechanics to real-world problems. ‘‘I have tried many online
games and this game gives me a feeling of helping others and feeling good about
myself,’’ noted one 61-year-old female player. The value placed on mentorship res-
onates with Erikson’s notion that middle adulthood (ages 45 to 65) is characterized
by generativity (Erikson, Erikson, & Kivnick, 1986). As Warbuton and Gooch (2007)
note, generativity is an important motivation for volunteerism and it also plays a
 Delwiche and Henderson/THE RISE OF OLDER MMO GAMERS 219

crucial role in helping older adults find meaning and happiness as they navigate
subsequent stages of the life cycle.’’
Survey data supported H4b —that gamers over 50 would be less likely than younger
players to cite achievement-related motivations. In addition, older players rarely
mentioned achievement motivations in open-ended responses (4.3%). Overall, such
motivations for players of all ages were statistically small and infrequently men-
tioned. This could be due, at least in part, to the fact Wizard101 is a social game
that especially at the higher levels requires teamwork and interaction with other
players. Advancing to new levels and gaining new spells are ‘‘big’’ goals; teamwork
and social interaction are needed for every new battle against shared enemies.
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In their study of older gamers, DeSchutter and Abeele (2010) used the term
cultivation to describe the motivation of those who viewed games as a vehicle for
learning and cognitive fitness. Similar findings emerged in this study. Here, 14.3%
of older players expressed these sorts of motivations, compared to only 5.8% of
younger players. This supported H4c that older players would be more likely to cite
self-growth and learning-related motives as reasons for play. As one older female
gamer explained, ‘‘at age 77 it keeps me alert and adds a little more to the day.’’ A
55 year-old female gamer summed up the power of gaming related to cultivation:
‘‘It stimulates the mind and has actually helped me discover things about myself I
didn’t know. Never knew how much I loved strategy for one thing.’’
In support of H4d , players over the age of 50 were less likely than younger players
to cite PvP combat as an important motivation. Explained one 52 year-old male
player, ‘‘I like games where people can cooperate instead of compete. I do some
PvP but my heart is not in it. I prefer to help others.’’ Server logs confirmed that older
gamers also engaged in fewer instances of PvP than younger gamers. Notably, PvP
was the least popular motivation for players of all ages. These findings are consistent
with Greenberg, Sherry, Lachlan, Lucas, and Holmstrom’s (2010) observation that
competition was less likely to be a motivation in online role-playing games as
well as Mehta and Josephs’(2006) and Stanton and Schultheiss’ (2007) findings that
competitiveness among both men and women declines as aging progresses.

Conclusion

Contrary to popular views regarding the gender of video game players, researchers
found that players over 50 were more likely to be women. Players of both genders
over the age of 50 also played more hours and underestimated their total hours of
game play more often than their younger in-world counterparts. In addition, older
players were less likely to play console games.
While younger players were more than twice as likely to cite social motivations
of connectedness and interaction, older MMO players also noted in open-ended re-
sponses that social connection was important motivation for playing, especially with
family. Future research in this area should include variables for both connectedness
 220 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2013

and the strength of connectedness to determine whether socioemotional selectivity

is present in the behaviors of older online gamers.
Competition among players was low across age groups but non-existent in regards
to motivations for older players. Those over 50 were more likely to note self-growth
or learning motivations (cultivation) than those under 50 in open-ended questions.
However, if players under the age of 13 were able to provide open-ended responses,
a different set of cultivation motivations (e.g., math skills, spelling skills, and social
skills) might have emerged among younger respondents.
It is important to note that one of the most important findings of this study is the
discovery that crucial motivations for players of all ages were not captured by the
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close-ended survey questions. Since these questions were adapted from widely used
instruments for understanding the motivations of MMO gamers, researchers should
consider strategies for revising and extending the breadth of close-ended motivation
measures.
This study adds to our understanding of older gamers in massively multiplayer
online games. Wizard101 is similar to other online games studied in several key
ways: it is a fantasy role-playing game where players enter the game alone as
individualized characters, but engage in team building, chat, and community rituals
in-world. In this way, it is similar to games such World of Warcraft, Everquest 2, and
Star Wars: The Old Republic. As with other games studied in this genre, Wizard101
emphasizes the finding and completing of quests, the progression through worlds,
and the following of a narrative storyline. Thus, it is not surprising when publications
targeting traditional gamers declare, ‘‘there is no question that Wizard101 has a lot
to give adult players, even hardcore MMO players (Ford, 2011).’’
On the other hand, this study deepens our knowledge regarding family games
where multiple players of varying ages engage in online play and provides additional
evidence of the rising influence of older MMO gamers. Future research should
investigate social connectedness with family in game environments not specifically
catering to children or the all-ages environment, such as World of Warcraft. It is
quite possible that family connectedness as a motivation transfers across gaming
platforms.

Note
1 In this study, the term ‘‘older gamers’’ refers to all players over the age of 50. Recognizing

that this term lumps together many different stages of the life cycle (Neighbour, 1985), this
study merely uses the phrase as a relative marker within the context of the gaming community.

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