According to global research, Generation Game, commissioned by Kaspersky and conducted by Savanta in November, 28% of gamers in UAE are ashamed of how much they game and hide it from their parents. The research looks at gaming in 2020 across 17 countries and 5,031 respondents. It considers what dynamics between gamers and their parents have changed and what can be done to break down barriers and stigmas. According to the gamers surveyed, this gaming shame is due to stigmas that remain around it, such as bad for health or rotting your brain.
The biggest disappointment for gamers globally is that while parents appreciate many of the positives like creativity, 44%, social skills, 52%, problem solving, 45%, they are not able to engage with them about their passion. In fact, 53% believe that if their parents got gaming, their overall relationship would be better.
Respondents of Generation Game research were under 35, spread evenly across gender, age and socioeconomics within that, consider themselves gamers, and game at least 5-10 hours per week on a PC. The countries are Russia, USA, UK, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and UAE.
Andrew Winton, Vice President of Marketing at Kaspersky, said, “Gaming has provided huge support to many this year, offering solace, relief and friendship in difficult times. But for many families, the negative perceptions of gaming can be very counter-productive in enabling open dialogue and building relationships. We hope that the wise words from these mums will help others start to have better and more positive conversations between gamers and parents.”
