Forty percent of gamers in Saudi Arabia are ashamed of how much they game and hide it from their parents, this is according to global research by Kaspersky.
The new research, commissioned by Kaspersky and conducted by Savanta in November last year, looks at gaming in 2020 across 17 countries and 5,031 respondents, and considers what dynamics between gamers and their parents have changed and what can be done to break down barriers and stigmas.
According to the gamers surveyed, this gaming shame is due to archaic stigmas that remain around it, such as “bad for your health” (60 percent) or “rotting your brain” (48 percent).
The biggest disappointment for gamers is that while parents appreciate many of the positives — creativity (33 percent), social skills (42 percent), and learning a foreign language (50 percent) — they are less able to engage with them about their passion, mainly because gameplay and the social elements of gaming are so different to the likes of movies and music. In fact, half (50 percent) believe that if their parents “got” gaming, their relationship overall would be better.
Andrew Winton, vice president of marketing at Kaspersky, said: “Gaming has provided huge support to many this year, offering solace, relief and friendship in difficult times. But for many families, the negative perceptions of gaming can be very counterproductive in enabling open dialogue and building relationships.”
The “Generation Game” research also revealed that over a tenth of gamers have had their ID stolen. Nearly a fifth (19 percent) have also been bullied while playing. This worrying trend is even more prevalent in Russia (44 percent) Saudi Arabia (27 percent), Turkey (28 percent) and the US (27 percent).
The research covered Russia, the USA and UK, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and the UAE.
