If you’re planning on buying Christmas gifts for kids this year, you might want to keep video games in mind.
According to a new survey from the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC), the Canadian video game industry’s lobbying group, more than half of Canadian kids want a gaming-related present this year. In the survey conducted on behalf of ESAC by the global PR firm Burson, 52 per cent of kids aged 10 to 17 said they’re planning to ask for video game gifts.
In total, Canadians buying gaming gifts are planning to spend an average of $763.20 this year. In terms of what kinds of games kids want, ESAC found that the most requested gifts were:
- Video game consoles — 46 per cent
- In-game currency — 42 per cent
- Video game accessories — 39 per cent
It’s interesting to see in-game currency there. Presumably, that’s driven heavily by microtransactions for things like Fortnite‘s V-Bucks and Roblox‘s Robux.
Of course, that also raises the question surrounding protecting kids who are playing these online games. (There’s been a particular wave of coverage surrounding how predators weaponize Roblox, for instance.) To that point, the ESAC survey found that 72 per cent of parents said they’re aware of available parental controls and 74 per cent who are aware say they actively use them.
Overall, 79 per cent of parents said parental controls are important to them. To help with that, ESAC has a “Family Safety Guide” to provide more information on these sorts of options for parents.
Image credit: Epic Games
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