Gaming is no longer a hobby just for arcade kids or shut-in men. As the world of pixels and RGB lights enters mainstream attention, video games are accessible to more groups of people than before. This also applies to the world of competitive gaming long-dominated by teenagers and early adults. Now, there are events that center on people of advanced age. 60 and up gamers are showing up in competitive leagues, and they even have a category of their own. Grandpa and grandma gamers are making their way to becoming a permanence in the world of bits and bytes.

This breaks the stereotype of the tech-hating geriatric and their presumed negative outlook on video games at large. They’re not the boomer grandmas and grandpas who say nothing positive about being in front of a screen controlling virtual avatars. There’s a notable rise in seniors taking up almost a third of the competitive gamer population.

There are notable victories of many all-senior teams in their eSport of choice. They go through their versions of rigorous training, are coached by younger eSports professionals, and participate in several friendly matches or minor competitions to gain their target consistency. Examples start with The Silver Snipers, a Swedish team that won the Counter-Strike World Cup in 2019. There’s also Singapore’s Senior GO! for Counter-Strike 2. Just recently, and not finally, 92 year-old Hisako Sakai won a Tekken 8 tournament this year.

Senior people’s presence in games mean technology offers more things to do for aging members of the population. This ‘digital workout’ of participating in competitive play helps maintain spatial memory and can aid in delaying symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Hand-eye coordination can also extend to a better full-body performance. This can start the drive to find some kind of gaming that can help an older person stay wholly fit. Keeping up with exercise does a lot not only for one’s reflexes, but also assist in achieving a more active lifestyle. Everyone feels the need for community at some point in their lives. The social or multiplayer aspects of competitive games mean seniors can talk to each other, become friendly rivals, or talk about games and other topics beyond the digital world. Games with any kind of multiplayer function opens doorways to friendships few other media can provide.

This does not mean special considerations and adjustments are not made to accommodate the senior gaming sphere. Some tech companies are putting focus on accessibility, providing technology designed to improve an older gamer’s reflexes considerably. Tournament or match formats are designed for ‘gentle competition’: special formats that would not be exciting when used on younger and more active members of the gaming crowd. The other more obvious instance here is the fact some organizers see a future with more senior gamers on the horizon. Some of the older gaming generations are about to enter advanced ages, and they simply won’t bow out of the digital world and leave all the fun to the younger ones.

One can never be too old for gaming. So have fun starting with easy and casual games for grandma and grampa.