The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has released its annual “Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry” report, and the survey provides valuable insights into the demographics and playing habits of today’s gamers.

According to the report, 63 percent of American households have at least one resident who plays video games three or more hours per week, and 65 percent of homes own some type of device that is used to play games.

Surprisingly, however, only 48 percent of households own a dedicated game console, which is slightly lower than the figures reported in the ESA’s survey for the last few years. Of course,  this could easily be explained by the variability of these types of surveys, but it could also suggest that while more people are playing games now than ever before, that does not necessarily mean that they are doing so on a dedicated gaming system.

In terms of demographics, the ESA says that while the largest group of gamers is young males, other groups still make up a sizeable portion of the gaming public. For example, women account for 41 percent of game players, and 44 percent of game players are over the age of 35.

This shows that there are a wide variety of tastes for the video game industry to cater to, and it helps explain the popularity and success of more niche gaming genres on crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter.

The ESA also noted that a large number of gamers enjoy playing online with friends, and more than half of all gamers say they play a multiplayer game mode at least once a week.

The report also demonstrated that digital sales have continued to edge out physical sales, with 56 percent of game purchases in 2015 made through digital storefronts compared to 52 percent in 2014 and 47 percent in 2013.

You can read the ESA’s full report on gamers and the video game market at essentialfacts.theesa.com.

Image by Benjamín Núñez González – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0