According to research from The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), around three out of five kids are asking for video-game-related presents this holiday season. The survey conducted by ESA involved over 700 children (ages 5 to 17), and it turns out that 43% of these kids want in-game currency. Looks like a lot of parents are going to be buying FC Coins, V-Bucks, Minecraft coins, and Robux this season.
Digital Spending Habits Among Kids
From the ESA survey, the top three items on many children’s holiday wish lists were as follows:
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- Money and gift cards (69%)
- Clothes/accessories (63%)
- Video games, skins, currencies, etc (58%)
But the more surprising (and somewhat worrying) part is that consoles, accessories, or even games were not the top gaming-related requests. 43% of these kids want in-game currency, with requests for consoles (39%) and actual games (37%) being a bit lower. But this simply may come down to the fact that a bunch of the kids that were surveyed already have consoles or games at home.
From a kid’s perspective, it makes sense. Kids naturally lend themselves more toward free-to-play titles like Fortnite, and that game’s collaborations and skins are basically begging you to spend money. Heck, even I’d want the Goku skin. Apart from free-to-play games, sports games are also likely popular among older kids (ages 13 – 18, I reckon). EA FC 26 has millions of players, and with an “E for Everyone” rating, there are probably more children out there playing than you think. Hopefully, there’s not a pre-teen out there stuck in the SBC grind.
Microtransactions are here to stay as an important revenue stream in a lot of multiplayer games, so it’s not a surprise that some 5-year-old is begging for Robux. This is obviously a bit worrying, as kids are more worried about getting the coolest, shiniest new skins. They don’t just want to play the game; they want to be seen.
But Here’s The Wholesome Side
On the more wholesome side of the ESA survey, 58% of kids said they want to play more games with their parents. This number jumps to 73% for children between the ages of 5 to 7 years. Gaming has never been about fun in isolation, and it’s good to see that many kids still think of it as a shared experience with their family.
Boys were the most likely to ask for video game gifts (76%), and 39% of girls echoed the same sentiment. Oh, and parents are apparently willing to spend an average of $736.83 this holiday season. A lot of kids are in for some neat stuff.
Published: Nov 19, 2025 01:30 pm