There‘s always been a connection between gaming and deeper engagement with other hobbies and brands. This engagement is what makes up “geek culture” – the blend of subcultures and special interests that overlap and intermingle.
Geek culture is big business. It’s arguably one of the biggest spending drivers for consumers under 50. According to IMDB, four of the ten highest-grossing movies in the past five years are based on superhero, sci-fi, or video game brands. High street stores are full of fashion featuring anime, gaming, and comic book character collaborations, and over 135,000 people attended Comic-Con in San Diego this year.
Geek culture is a rich world, but it’s also a thriving community of devoted fans who love, celebrate, and share an interest in brands and franchises worldwide. These can include anime, science fiction, cosplay, board games, comics, and BGM’s favourite, video games.
We were curious about how video games fit into geek culture, so we surveyed over 1,000 US gamers to learn about their passions and spending habits beyond video games in the broader world of geek culture.
Our detailed report analyses how gaming habits connect to broader cultural engagement and provides key insights for marketers to understand geek culture better.
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Only interested in the numbers? Here’s the TLDR for you:
- Gamers are interested in many geek culture and gaming-related areas: Board Games (35%) and Card/Party Games (35%) were at the top, Comics (33%) and Sci-Fi/Fantasy Literature (33%) weren’t far behind, and LARPing (13%) and Kickstarter Campaigns (10%) had the smallest followings.
- Those who play video games 1-4 hours per week are nearly twice as interested in sci-fi and fantasy literature as those who play 20+ hours.
- Women are 9% more likely to spend more on social games and 4% more on collectables than men.
- Men have a 12% higher interest in comics and graphic novels than women. Men are also more likely to list collectable/trading card games as their highest spending area (10% vs. 7%).
- No single category significantly dominates geek culture, though 14% of respondents spent the most on toys and collectables.
- 39% of gamers plan to spend more on geek culture over the next 12 months.
