Gamers Aren’t Basement Dwellers, Says Jagex

Jagex study shows that most gamers play above ground.

Today’s humanities piece comes to us from Jagex, the folks behind that indie game RuneScape. While gamers have the unfortunate stereotype of being basement dwelling nerds a new piece of research from Jagex suggests that they might just be nerds. Polling just under 2,000 gamers around the world, Jagex discovered that only 3.5% actually gamed in their basement. 52.5% played in their bedrooms with 23% in the living room and 20.5% in their home office.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the survey also found that 49% are gaming more in this post-lockdown world than they did previously. 8% admitted to gaming when they should be working while 92% likely lied about not gaming while working.

CEO Phil Mansell said;

“Although the past 12 months have been incredibly challenging for everyone across the world, it’s great that gaming has cemented its place as a go-to pastime for more and more people looking to interact and socialise through online games, especially as we cope with the restrictions and lockdowns used to fight the pandemic. This past year has also clearly been important in overturning negative stereotypes about video games that linger in popular culture.”

The survey notably did not ask how many people still cry at the sight of this hat.