Nearly half of adults over 50 plays games every day, but almost 70% of them feel that games are not designed with aging players in mind. Coming from various industry and research backgrounds, the speakers in this session present their take on the older audience in games: what the market looks like, how players over 50 sort into segments with distinct motivations, how AI features land with people who did not grow up with games, and how studios can address the needs of aging players better.

Takeaway

Attendees will leave with the business case for the 50+ market and AARP's newest data on how older adults play. They'll see the design and marketing choices one indie studio made for first-time puzzle players and learn about older players' attitudes toward AI. Finally, they'll hear how ML-driven agents could ease the return to live-service games, and how to partner with AARP Games.

Intended Audience

Designers, product and marketing leads, UX researchers, accessibility specialists, and executives weighing audiences beyond the 18-to-34 demographic. The session caters to a broad audience of game developers and should be relevant to from teams that are working on casual, mobile, puzzle, strategy, and live-service titles, and anyone evaluating AI features for players who did not grow up with games. No prerequisite knowledge is required.