Teens and Screens 2025 Report
Teens and Screens Gaming 2025
This gaming report is part of our annual Teens & Screens research project
About the Study
Teens and Screens is an annual research report based on a nationwide survey of 1,500 tweens, teens, and young adults conducted by the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA (CSS) to understand more about what young people care about and want to see in entertainment media. Check out prior years’ reports here. View our press release for this project on UCLA’s newsroom here.
This is the second year that CSS created a standalone report about gaming, with results highlighting what a big part of life gaming is for young people today and what barriers to inclusion and belonging persist.
1. Gaming helps most adolescents feel connected and well-adjusted. The potential for gaming to have a positive effect on adolescents is impressive. 67.9% of adolescents say gaming helps them feel connected to their friends and 52.3% say it helps them learn to handle their emotions.
2. Inclusion in gaming is the final boss. There are clear hurdles to fulfilling gaming’s potential, especially in social or multiplayer gaming. The majority of boy and girl gamers across racial identities feel pressure to “act a certain way” while gaming because of their gender, identity, etc. They have had to develop strategies to deal with hostile gaming environments, including consciously socially conforming, adopting gender roles, and muting their mics to hide their identity.
3. Adolescents are not standing by and waiting for inclusion. Fortunately, many adolescents exercise choice over the games they play with safety and inclusion in mind: over 2 in 5 adolescents across identities say that they prefer games with racial diversity and avoid games with harmful representations of women. They also actively shape their gaming environments by reporting players who cross a line and leaving games that feel hostile.
“Gaming has showed me how to be a better person.“
– 13-year old girl, Black/African-American, Florida
These are just a few of our interesting findings. Check out the full report to view more statistics, anecdotes from participants, and data visualizations.
How to Cite This Report:
Puretz, M., Hines, A., Uhls, Y.T. (2025). Inclusion: Gaming’s Final Boss. Teens & Screens 2025. Center for Scholars & Storytellers. https://www.scholarsandstorytellers.com/2025-gaming-pull-out
Thank You to Our Sponsors
About the Authors
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Matt Puretz, M.A.
Senior Researcher
Matt Puretz (he/they) is a Senior Researcher at CSS. He specializes in connecting creators to evidence-based insights from media psychology, helping them develop content that inspires social impact.
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Alisha J. Hines, PhD
VP of Research & Programs
As VP of Research & Programs, Dr. Alisha J. Hines leads the research team and oversees all studies conducted at the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA. She earned her PhD in History & African American Studies from Duke University and is a former faculty member of Wake Forest University's History Department.
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Yalda T. Uhls, MBA, PhD
Founder and CEO
Founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers, Dr. Yalda T. Uhls is an internationally recognized, award-winning research scientist, educator, and author, who specializes in studying how media affects young people. She received her MBA and PhD in developmental psychology from UCLA, is a former movie executive at companies like MGM and Sony, and is a proud Gen Z parent.