Solsten: Players are becoming more altruistic in uncertain times

Audience intelligence platform Solsten surveyed over 500,000 players globally to gather data on the psychological traits, hopes and pain points of gamers.

Of the 279 personality traits assessed, the vast majority (87%) saw no statistically significant changes. This is expected since personality traits tend to stay stable over time. This means changes in personality traits — especially over this large of a sample — signal a major audience shift. Solsten suggests societal and economic disruptions, as well as an influx of 300 million more players, drove these annual changes.

“This is groundbreaking. We’ve created the largest year over year psychological dataset in human history, drawing from 502,810 individuals across 250 countries and dependencies. By analyzing 279 traits, our psychology-based assessment AI offers unprecedented insights into humanity’s evolution. This report reveals global shifts in psychological traits, opening new doors for businesses, individuals, and researchers alike — offering a glimpse into our future not just as an industry, but as a species. If that’s not profound for anyone looking to understand their audience, I’m not sure what is,” said Joe Schaeppi, CEO of Solsten.

Defining traits of gamers

While traits aren’t likely to change much from year to year, there are significant differences between different player demographics. Gen Z players tend to look for recognition, with males indexing high for status orientation and females for anxiety. Millennials want to take charge, with males rating high for impulsiveness and females for assertiveness. Gen X shows some contrast with males indicating fearlessness while females are searching for purpose. Finally, Baby Boomer males index for grit and females for persistence showing similar values.

Solsten’s full report also includes defining traits for players by genre and console.

Despite headwinds, Solsten’s study suggests players are responding with hope and determination. The biggest shift seen was the prevalence of altruism. The number of players classified as altruistic grew 10% year-on-year. Contentiousness (+9%), self-discipline (+8%) and persistence (+8%) also grew from 2022 to 2023.

Player wants and pain points

While personality traits rarely change, Solsten also looks at player hopes, aspirations and desires to capture shorter term wants and needs.

Chief among these wants is a growing desire for community through playing. Several studies show a growing loneliness epidemic around the world and Solsten highlights how games can help bring people together.

While this desire holds for players of all genders and ages, female players (+13%) report higher growth than male players (+3%). Older female players — Baby Boomers (+92%), Gen X (+62%) and millennials (+32%) — saw the largest year-on-year change.

Likewise, more players report wanting to express their creativity through games. Of course, this coincides with the growth of UGC content in games.

Like the desire for community, female players are driving most of the growth. Compared to 2022, 64% more female players say they want to express creativity in games as well as 18% more male players. While Baby boomer females saw the largest growth (+125%), this was followed by Gen Z (+93%) and Gen X (+75%) females.

While players are seeking out more games than ever before for affordable relaxation, Solsten’s pain point data also shows that the bar for excellence is higher. Fewer players are reporting issues with interruptions (-33%), a lack of content (-33%), cheaters (-21%) and gameplay (-15%). This is good for the industry overall, but standing out is getting harder.

Solsten’s full report is available now.