How Gaming Has Become Essential to Wellness and Connection

• 77% of global players say gaming helps reduce stress.
• Report states gaming improves problem-solving, adaptability, and teamwork skills.
• 62% agree globally that gaming creates good friendships and family relationships.

Entertainment Software Association’s (ESA) 2025 report says that gaming can do more than just entertain. It can also improve wellness, build skills, and foster important connections all around the world. Many people appear to have made gaming a regular part of their self-care routines, highlighting the fact how gaming has progressed from a hobby to an important aspect of everyday life.

The report titled 2025 Global Power of Play, which was released towards the end of September, drew responses from more than 24,000 players across 21 countries, with 77% of the global players stating that gaming helps them reduce stress. The remaining, on the other hand, believe that it has advanced their careers in some ways.

Gaming Power Play: How Games Back Wellness and Connection

The gamers across the world are united with the single truth that gaming is "fun." Unsurprisingly, this word topped the list, with 66% citing it as the main reason for playing games. The other 45% of people were of the opinion that gaming helped them to keep their minds sharp. 

The report also says that games help tackle anxiety and loneliness. 75% of Americans feel less stressed, while 67% and 58% feel less anxious and lonely when they play games. Speaking globally, these numbers reach 70% for reduced anxiety and 64% for easing loneliness by building connections through gaming. This proves that games can be a social lifeline as much as a solo escape.

Nearly 62% of the global players agree that gaming provides a space for positive connections, which proves virtual realms can have real social advantages. In fact, 67% responses from the younger players of the age bracket 16 to 35 say that they have met a close friend, spouse, or partner through gaming.

Family relationships also benefit from gaming. Over half (55%) of the worldwide gamers said gaming helps them bond with their children, and 68% play with them in person at least once a month. In the U.S., 47% indicate favourable parent-child impacts from gaming. This shows that gaming isn’t just an individual hobby anymore, it’s a recreational family activity for many.

How Games Help in Skill Growth

Gaming is not just “fun,” it also strengthens your mental stimulation. 81% of the people have stated that gaming keeps their minds active, with 76% and 74% highlighting their improved problem-solving skills and building teamwork, respectively.

Not only that, most of the players worldwide (43% globally, with America individually standing at 45%) think that gaming has directly impacted their professional education and skills required for it. For example, 54% of global players believe that video game sports help them improve their real-world athletic ability, which is also supported by 44% of Americans.

In fact, a great percentage of people feel that gaming has taught them skills like adaptability (72%), along with improving their critical thinking (71%), communication (67%), and creativity (77%). Apart from that, 74% of Americans believe that gaming made them culturally more sensitive, an emotion which is very much necessary, say, in a workplace.

The report showcases a shifting global worldview that holds and recognizes gaming not only for what it provides in terms of enjoyment, but also for how it represents modern life itself, interconnected, skill-driven, and intensely human.