Fewer German teenagers are playing digital games. Although the decline is only slight, it is not the only surprising finding from the new JIM 2025 study by the Medienpädagogischen Forschungsverbunds Südwest (mpfs)
Since 1998, the Medienpädagogischen Forschungsverbunds Südwest (mpfs), a collaboration of the public broadcaster Südwestrundfunk (SWR) and the media authorities Landesanstalt für Kommunikation Baden-Württemberg (LFK; State Media Authority of Baden-Württemberg), the Medienanstalt Rheinland-Pfalz (Media Authority of Rhineland-Palatinate) have been collecting data on the media use of German young people. And the most important trends are always reflected in the data. This is also the case in the current JIM 2025 study.
JIM once stood for “Jugendliche in Medien” (young people in media), but today it stands for “Jugend, Information und Medien” (youth, information, and media). Every year, the study examines not only the media equipment in households where 12- to 19-year-olds live, but also their personal ownership of media devices and, above all, their use.
All types of media are covered, albeit with a particular focus on linear media such as TV, radio, and print. However, access to and use of the internet, social media, and digital games are also surveyed.
In the case of games in particular, the days of rapid growth are long gone, as they are now an integral part of the daily media mix of Germany's young people. Looking at the households in which 12- to 19-year-olds live, 98% have smartphones, 97% have PCs/laptops, and 96% have a TV set. A stationary console can be found in 71% of all households with young people in Germany, wearables in 62%, and a handheld device in 49% of all households.
When it comes to personal ownership, 95% of all 12- to 19-year-olds have their own smartphone, but only 65% have their own computer or laptop. Forty-six percent own a stationary console, and just as many have their own TV. Wearables are at 35%, and handhelds at 34%.
An interesting development can be seen in the use of digital games by age. This decreases among young people as they get older. While 78% of 12- and 13-year-olds in Germany use digital games, the figure is only 67% for 16- and 17-year-olds and 18- and 19-year-olds.
In any case, according to JIM Studio, game usage declined last year, albeit only by 2 percentage points to 71%. Although this is a representative study with over 1,200 respondents, a certain fluctuation in the figures is normal, so the slight decline does not necessarily mean a reversal of the trend.
A closer look at the data on games confirms the trends seen in other studies. At least among young people, boys play more and more often than girls. While 58% of girls, regardless of age, say they play every day or several times a week, the figure for boys is 83%. Girls play an average of 59 minutes per day, boys 114.
The evaluation by platform is also not surprising: smartphones are the most popular gaming platform among young people in Germany.
The results of the JIM study are available free of charge, but are only available in German on the mpfs website.
