We’ve all assumed for a long time that Nintendo’s biggest target demographic is children and young adults. That’s a fair assumption to make, especially as the majority of its marketing is family-oriented, and a significant portion of its games are aimed at a casual audience. Nintendo has long dominated that space, with its direct competitors occasionally making a more child-friendly experience, but largely focusing on R-rated games.
However, that idea of Nintendo has shifted, slowly but dramatically, since the days of the Wii and GameCube. The Wii U began introducing more violent and mature games like ZombiU, and then the Nintendo Switch ushered in a more relaxed stance on third-party releases such as DOOM and The Witcher 3. Yet, still, the majority of Nintendo’s first-party output has remained aimed almost exclusively at a younger audience. That absolutely needs to change, especially after the revelation that its audience isn’t quite what we expect.
Nintendo Isn’t Just For Children
A New Survey Proves Otherwise
A brand-new, shocking survey about Nintendo by GEM Partners – which was released via the Japanese business publication Nikkei – has revealed that, in Japan, the average player age for the majority of Nintendo’s most iconic IPs is 30. The survey revealed that both Animal Crossing and The Legend of Zelda series had an average player age of 35. Indeed, the lowest average age was for Splatoon, which was still 27.
For context, the survey was conducted exclusively in Japan and covered 180,000 participants between the ages of 15 and 69. Naturally, that excludes the audience typically associated with Nintendo, but nevertheless points to the fact that there is a significant number of older players enjoying its games. Interestingly, of all the famous Nintendo IPs that the participants were surveyed on, only The Legend of Zelda could be considered a mature series, at least thanks to the recent entries.
GEM Partners surveyed 180k Japanese regarding their entertainment activities. Among the games listed in the study, here are the Nintendo IPs and their fans’ gender ratios and average ages. Compared to other game IPs (see below), Nintendo has more female fans. Kirby series is 55% female, and AC 75%.
— Nintendo Patents Watch (@ninpatentswatch.bsky.social) 2025-07-21T02:21:34.437Z
The survey not only revealed a stark lack of mature first-party games, but also the fact that the ages of a significant portion of Nintendo fans are well above the expected target audience. It makes it abundantly clear that Nintendo must finally start addressing this side of its fanbase, not just with more violent and mature third-party releases, but with its own output. It is time Nintendo actually catered to those above the age of 15.
Nintendo Needs To Cater To Its Adult Audience
It Needs More Mature Games
To be absolutely clear, I’m not saying that Pokémon, Mario, Animal Crossing, or any of Nintendo’s more casual first-party releases are squarely aimed at children, nor that they can’t be enjoyed by adults. Rather, the exact opposite is true, especially as Nintendo consistently provides more challenging late-game content for adults to engage with, while children and their families can focus on the main, far easier experience.
However, unlike PlayStation and Xbox, whose primary IPs are gritty, nuanced, mature, and often violent experiences, Nintendo has little to offer its older fans. Nintendo needs more mature games, not just violent ones or shooters like DOOM and Halo, but ones that explore meaningful themes, discuss adult topics, and reflect humanity and society in a way Animal Crossing, Pokémon, and Mario simply can’t.
Nintendo has already proven it can produce such games, with its Fire Emblem and Xenoblade Chronicles series, the latter of which is a far better example of this. However, those two are Nintendo’s only more adult-focused series, and they get entries once every few years. Nintendo needs more games like these, more complex RPGs, interesting narrative-based adventures, and open-world experiences to supplement the casual experiences aimed predominantly at a broader demographic.
Now would be the perfect time to introduce more adult-oriented IPs to the world, especially considering how few Switch 2 exclusives there are. Nintendo has a chance to define the Switch 2 and showcase what kind of console it will be and the games it will cater to. The Switch proved itself to be a third-party-dominated machine, something that made sense when there were no other handhelds. The Switch 2 can’t copy that same formula. Nintendo must instead fill that space with its own first-party offerings.
Nintendo Still Needs Games For Kids
It Makes Up A Huge Part Of Its Target Demographic
That being said, Nintendo obviously still needs to produce games within its established series as well as cater to younger gamers who are assumedly its primary audience. The fact that its competitors are seriously lacking in that space means that it is up to Nintendo to provide entertaining and meaningful experiences that children can enjoy, thus introducing them to the hobby in a safe way from a young age.
Mario, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, and all the other more child-friendly games undeniably have an important place in the gaming zeitgeist and must continue to provide the opportunities they’ve given to younger gamers. I’m grateful that I got to grow up with the likes of Mario Kart and Animal Crossing: Wild World so that I could then be fully invested in the hobby by the time Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and The Last of Us rolled around.
Without child-friendly games, there wouldn’t be many adults who are interested in games in the first place. However, without adult-focused games, Nintendo is missing out on a huge portion of players. I, for one, would love to see what Nintendo and its numerous partners could do with more mature themes and complex gameplay. I sincerely hope that Nintendo finally acknowledges that, while we all love playing Pokémon and Animal Crossing no matter how old we get, we’d also love a few more adult-focused games from time to time.
Source: Nikkei, Nintendo Patents Watch/Bluesky
Nintendo
- Date Founded
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September 23, 1889
- CEO
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Satoru Iwata
- Parent Company
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Nintendo
- Subsidiaries
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Nintendo EPD, Nintendo SPD, Nintendo EAD
- Consoles
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Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Game Boy Color, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Switch Lite
- Services
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Nintendo Switch Online
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