The main motivations behind playing video games?

The respondents were asked about the reasons why they play video games. Similarly, as in the previous edition of the research, it is not competition that motivates the gamers, but rather the need to relax and handle stress. The above is the most frequent answer in the case of three among five platforms, i.e., games for personal computers, browsers and consoles. Relaxing and de-stressing as the dominant motivation has been indicated by 67% of the respondents playing games on personal computers, which constitutes an increase by 12 percentage points in comparison to the answers given in 2019.

_{Why do you play the following types of games? What playing each of them gives you? Base: Respondents who engage in given activities}

Such response has also been given by 61% of the gamers playing browser games. In that case, the increase when compared to the previous edition of Polish Gamers Research reached 21 percentage points. 65% gamers using mobile platforms and 42% of gamers using social media platforms also stated that they played in order to relax, although it has not been the primary motivation. Nevertheless, there was an increase of 9 and 10 percentage points, as appropriate, when compared to the previous year. That response was also the most popular among the gamers using mobile platforms (46%) in 2019, although next year it has been replaced by passing the time (68%, increase by 24 percentage points YoY). The above is the highest ratio of answers for all platforms. The next groups of gamers who play out of boredom and to pass the time are the users of browser games (55%, increase by 17 percentage points YoY), games installed on personal computers (53%, increase by 7 percentage points YoY), console games (46%, increase by 13 percentage points YoY) and games in social networks (44%, increase by 13 percentage points YoY).

For 45% of console gamers and 43% of PC gamers, playing provides adrenaline and emotions.

The share of gamers whose principal motivation was to meet with other players significantly increased during the lockdown. Even among the gamers preferring single player mode, who have traditionally been the majority on mobile and social media platforms, a significant increase has been noted in the answers indicating the need to meet with other players. Such motivation was indicated by 35% of the users of social media, such as Facebook or nk.pl (increase by 7 percentage points YoY) and 21% of mobile gamers (increase by 8 percentage points YoY). A slightly lower increase occurred for browser, console and personal computer games. In the case of those three platforms, the level of motivation connected with searching for companionship in games remained at the level over 30%, similarly as in 2019.

Similarly, as in the previous years, gamers using personal computers (42%) and consoles (44%) most frequently play to take on new roles and characters. It should also be noted that this motivation increased among the gamers using mobile platforms (20%, increase by 7 percentage points YOY) and social media (30%, increase by 11 percentage points YOY), which may prove the growing expectations of those gamers, as well as higher complexity of the games.