- High school yearbook shows 75% favor Fortnite, but Baldur’s Gate 3 only has 5% support – possible typo or just low sample size.
- Redditors speculate on the small numbers, guessing at 20-40 student respondents – age demographics for Baldur’s Gate 3 unknown.
- Despite Baldur’s Gate 3’s popularity, mature themes may have hindered its appeal to the high school students surveyed.
A high school asked its senior students their favorite video game, and while expected results like Fortnite were present, Baldur’s Gate 3 also made a surprise appearance. But it wasn’t that Baldur’s Gate 3 made an appearance that had some scratching their heads, it’s how it appeared.
It’s well-known that games like Fortnite and Roblox have a young userbase. An analysis in 2018 concluded that about 62% of Fortnite‘s players were in the 18-24 age range, but it’s possible these numbers are inaccurate considering Epic’s later efforts to restrict content by age. Likewise, a study in 2022 showed that the age distribution of Roblox users were 15% 13-16, and 21% 17-24, making for a fairly youthful userbase.
However, the results in this particular yearbook may need some adjusting, or at least an explanation. According to a photo posted to Reddit, the official breakdown of the favorite game among seniors of this high school is as follows:
- 75% Fortnite
- 10% Roblox
- 10% Minecraft
- 5% Baldon’s Gate 3
It’s presumed that “Baldon’s Gate 3” is a misspelling of Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3, and while the original post doesn’t seem to clarify this as being the case, it seems like a pretty safe presumption given the explosive popularity of Baldur’s Gate 3. Redditors seemed interested in the apparent misspelling of Baldur’s Gate, riffing on the typo with apparent delight.
Some Redditors seem to have an explanation for the odd distribution of results and suggest an exceptionally low sample size. It’s unknown how many students were asked, how many responded, and how the question was presented, but user TheGrimTickler guesses that the number of student respondents was either exactly 20 or 40 students in total. Assuming 20 students responded, the distribution becomes:
- Two students for Roblox
- Two students for Minecraft
- 15 students for Fortnite
- One student for Baldur’s Gate 3
If the number of students that responded were 40, these amounts would be doubled. It’s unclear what the age demographic breakdown is among players of Baldur’s Gate 3, but the proliferation of Gen Z-themed Baldur’s Gate mods mayhelp Larian win over younger players.
The Kids are Alright and on Fortnite
20-40 senior students at an unknown high school doesn’t exactly make for a definitive breakdown of favorite games among gamers in their late teens, but it does line up a bit with current gaming trends among age groups. In addition to the age ranges among Fortnite and Roblox, estimates say that 43% of Minecraft players are between 15 and 21. Despite Baldur’s Gate 3 reaching multimillions of sales and the general apathy of high schoolers towards age ratings, its mature themes nonetheless may have kept it from making a more noticeable impact on the particular group of students polled for this yearbook.