The Global Gaming Scene According to IGN World

As part of the launch celebration of IGN Japan, we asked 14 of IGN’s global editorial offices (representing over 20 different countries) to tell us about the local gaming scene in their region, so that we could learn a little more about how gamers see the world… and how the world sees them.

We learned so much cool stuff that we thought we’d share it with other IGN editions, and added a little info on Japan, too.

Which Nintendo console was the first to officially go on sale in Hungary? Which country would dare to dress badass Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki in a space poncho? And in which country does nearly every kid alive have access to video games? Read on to find out!

1. Gamers are alike, all around the world.

That is to say, each country is a chaotic mess of gaming demographics. But two main types of gamer appear everywhere, as best characterised by editor Jonathan Beyt-Yacov at IGN Israel.

“I would say half are 16-30 year old guys that spend hundreds of dollars on a PlayStation 4 just so they can play FIFA or PES and occasionally [Call of Duty],” says Beyt-Yacov. “The other half are people that enjoy other types of games and prefer to not tell anyone they are gamers in fear that they be associated with the first half.”

The target age tends to start at around the mid-teens in most countries. “By university, only the geeks are still playing,” says IGN Hungary editor-in-chief Laszlo Benyi.

But in South Africa, the relatively high cost of games and equipment makes it a hobby better suited to “28- to 34-year-old males with high disposable income,” says local IGN editor Zaid Kriel.

And while the balance of male and female gamers is more or less equal in a country like the USA and indeed Japan, editors in India, Brazil, and South Africa all reported that gamers in their countries are mostly male.

2. Gaming is more stigmatized in some countries than others.

According to our conversations with IGN editors from around the world, you basically have two categories for this one: countries where the media has a progressive and understanding view of gaming as a somewhat normal hobby, and countries that more widely believe games are turning the minds of the youth to mush.

“Games are looked at as something only children indulge in,” says IGN India’s Avinash Bali. “The common man does not understand the concept itself.”

It has become more normal and mainstream, thanks to the increasing number of gamers...

Simone Soletta from IGN Italia had this to say: “There is still a lot of ignorance and the tendency to depict videogames in a bad light. Usually this happens when something very bad occurs in real life: ‘This terrorist was a video game player,’ and such stupid things.”

On a more positive note, Tor Nizan at IGN Israel says, “It has become more normal and mainstream, thanks to the increasing number of gamers that manage to survive their 20s without abandoning their secret identity on the way.”

“Sometimes TV will talk about games in a very serious and professional way, and sometimes they'll just discard the whole thing as childish,” says Erwan Lafleuriel, chief editor at IGN France. “Right now TV channels are getting very interested in eSports, so things could change quickly in a good way.”

3. Tons of Australian families own games.

Citing the Digital Australia 2016 report, IGN Australia senior editor Cam Shea says, “68% of the overall population plays games,” and “98% of homes with children in Australia have video games.” That’s a lot of gamers.

Shea also tells us that in Australia, games “must be consumed with an ice-cold beer.” Does it get any better than that?

4. Shooters and sports games are popular everywhere.

Unsurprisingly, the most popular genres in each of the countries we surveyed are first-person shooters and sports games, plus the Grand Theft Auto series. Call of Duty and FIFA came up a lot, followed by Battlefield and Pro Evolution Soccer. MOBAs such as DotA 2 and League of Legends were mentioned by IGN editors in Australia, Southeast Asia, Brazil, Israel, and Hungary.

Ryan McCaffrey, executive editor of previews at IGN USA, cites perhaps the most diverse list of recent local faves: “Pokémon GO, No Man's Sky, Grand Theft Auto V, Madden NFL 17,” he says, before adding, “First-person shooters continue to dominate.”

Meanwhile, in Brazil, Miyazawa says that in addition to the console and PC heavy-hitters, “addictive mobile games (Candy Crush Saga for instance) will always have a big appeal with casual gamers.”

5. No one seems to love RPGs as much as Japan.

Not a single country we polled mentioned RPGs among its most popular genres of games. In fact, the genre pretty much only came up when we asked which genres are NOT popular.

“Platformers and JRPGs don’t typically get a lot of attention,” laments IGN Middle East editor Lynn Jisr, while Juan García Garrido at IGN España comments, “RPGs are niche, with a few exceptions like The Witcher.”

For us in Japan, of course, we love ‘em. You guys don’t know what you’re missing. One thing that might surprise you is that Final Fantasy is not the dominant JRPG here as it is everywhere else in the world — that distinction goes to Dragon Quest. The series is so popular that we even have a long-running Dragon Quest cafe in Tokyo called Luida’s Bar.