Gaming Classifications and Player Demographics

This chapter outlines player demographics associated with digital games through the lens that gaming can comprise four key facets: function, content, platform, and context. This defining of demographics is important, because if gaming is considered a generic entity, it is difficult to establish specific nuances to determine a valid account of player demographics. As such, this chapter provides an account of player demographics and how these may vary as a product of these different facets. It also highlights the issues and challenges associated with this endeavor. Finally, it presents a conceptual model that underpins these issues, whereby these facets of gaming may be determined by gaming domains and play formats.