Game On: Survey shows majority of gamers over 50 feel overlooked

A recent study conducted by AARP Research revealed that 69% of gamers over the age of 50 feel games are designed with older players as an afterthought. Commonly cited issues were game difficulty and/or lack of tutorials, and many of those surveyed found push notifications and forced advertisements in mobile games obnoxious.

Here’s a little secret: that’s not an age thing. I’m in my 20s, I’ve been playing video games for as long as I can remember, and I absolutely cannot stand the constant notifications, pop-up banners and advertisements – I currently have zero games installed on my smartphone.

I don’t say this to assert some sort of smug superiority over mobile gaming – I greatly enjoyed phone games around 2010-14. I played my share of Angry Birds, I set many personal records in Tiny Wings and I unlocked everything in Temple Run. When my old iPhone 4 was stolen a few months ago, what saddened me most was my loss of “outdated,” ad-free versions of such games.

Ironically, ads, pop-ups and other annoyances are a “feature” of mobile gaming that’s become steadily worse over the years, not better. It’s a shame, because there’s no reason smartphones can’t be a legitimate platform for playing video games – but currently, most titles are falling short.

There are many mobile games that offer an “ad-free” version if you pay a subscription fee, usually around $5/month. That’s an option many people use, but it seems a scummy move to me when many such games once offered the full, uninterrupted experience for $5-$10 charged once and only once. The mobile gaming space has shifted to a more predatory business model.

Those qualms are no surprise – I was more mystified by the other concerns cited by survey participants. While there still exists a sizable number of popular, difficult games – Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Cuphead and Celeste all spring to mind – the vast majority of video games have gotten much easier over the years.

With few exceptions, gone are the days of “game over” screens meaning the player must well and truly start over from zero. Failure usually only costs time in multiplayer games and a few minutes of progress in story-centric single player games. For modern titles using arcade-style gameplay, some form of progress is usually kept – this is typically referred to as a “roguelike” mechanic, where unlocked items are kept in subsequent playthroughs in games like Hades or Enter the Gungeon.

But video game difficulty takes on many forms. Modern titles are much more forgiving of failure, but the gameplay itself can still be exceedingly complicated. Most 3D games require simultaneous input for player movement and camera movement, which is disorienting for anyone starting out. Add nearly a dozen buttons, triggers and bumpers to the mix, and things get confusing in a hurry.

Once again, this isn’t exclusively an age issue. I have a younger friend who expressed frustration with his college peers expecting him to pick up and play Call of Duty as if it were as simple as playing a game of catch. I vividly recall the first time I attempted to play a first-person shooter, in 2005 – I was immediately shocked by their popularity given the difficult control scheme.

On the plus side, tutorials have come a long way. Once relegated to simple, text-heavy instruction manuals, many titles now sport fully-fledged intro levels to play through where gamers can familiarize themselves with the mechanics of a game without fear of losing progress or “messing up.”

Accessibility options have become more commonplace in mainstream titles especially, where it’s not uncommon for games to include options for closed captions and accommodations for various forms of colorblindness.

But none of this takes away from the disheartening reality of AARP Research’s figure – that 69% of gamers 50 and older feel disenfranchised. In moderation, video gaming is a fantastic hobby that can enhance brain stimulation and problem-solving skills and foster collaboration. The less gatekeeping the better, and I hope games continue to grow increasingly accessible for people of all ages.