The result of our age survey on WoW Shadowlands and Classic is clear and sobering. We and you are real old gamers.
A few days ago, we launched a survey on MeinMMO that has experienced quite a bit of participation. We wanted to know from WoW players – both in Shadowlands and Classic – how old they actually are. Over 9,000 (Shadowlands) and over 7,000 (Classic, BC) participated, painting a clear picture.
The somewhat clichéd prejudice is that WoW can only attract “old” players and hardly reaches the younger generation. The result of the surveys: Correct. A large part of our WoW player readers is already well beyond 30.
A small explanation beforehand: You will find that the numbers mentioned in the text differ from the numbers in the two graphics. This is because we excluded the answer “I do not play” in order to arrive at the result of the players actually participating in the game. Therefore, the percentage figures in the text refer to the adjusted value of the participants, without the “I do not play” votes.
WoW Shadowlands: Every 5th player is older than 42
The largest group of participants in the Shadowlands survey were players aged 42 or older. A full 19.64% of you indicated that you are significantly over 40 years old and still enjoy staying in Azeroth. This seems to confirm the prejudice that WoW players – in terms of gaming – definitely belong to the older generation.
Also interesting: The next largest groups are the age classes 30-32 years (with 16.58%) and 27-29 years (15.73%). Here one might speculate that these are the players who, back when they were students or young adults, experienced Vanilla or Burning Crusade, and are still attached to the game.
Somewhat sobering: The particularly young player base of 12 to 20 years makes up only a measly 3.01% of our survey. So if you think that on the other side of the screen, there is probably some “kiddie” camping your corpse in the game – the chance is not particularly high.
WoW Classic and BC Classic: Also high age, few young players
Although significantly fewer players participated in the survey for WoW Classic and BC Classic, the result is quite similar to that of Shadowlands.
At least 18.40% of players indicated that they are 42 years or older. This is only slightly smaller than the proportion for the retail version.
The next two largest groups are the age group 27-29 years (17.60% of the votes) and 30-32 years (17.45% of the votes). Again, the assumption is that these players are once-newbies who started playing during the original time of Classic, Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King and are now reliving their nostalgia.
By the way, the outlook for the younger generation in Classic and Burning Crusade is unfortunately even more disappointing than in retail. Only 2.66% of players fall into the age group of 12 to 20 years.
What do we learn from the survey? How to interpret these values must ultimately be decided by everyone for themselves. A few clichés have certainly been fulfilled. It seems quite clear that WoW is significantly more attractive to older players than to the younger target group.
On the other hand, however, the often-cited accusation that WoW: Shadowlands is rather something for the “young, fast-food-trained generation without much attention span” is refuted. The age groups in both games differ only minimally – in Shadowlands they are even slightly older in our survey.
Nevertheless, we at MeinMMO are of course aware that one should treat the numbers with a pinch of caution, as not all age groups are equally represented in the readership of MeinMMO. Nevertheless, the survey is suitable for establishing a trend, and that clearly states: The players of World of Warcraft belong in both games rather less to the younger generation. Most fans of Blizzard’s MMORPG have a few gaming decades under their belt.
And for the next time, we have learned: We need many more gradations that go beyond the age of 42.
Are you surprised by the result of the survey? Would you have expected similar values? What is the average age in your guild?
