The Effects of Gaming

How gaming can positively affect you and your relationships

Spending your time gaming can sometimes be seen as anti-social, but this isn’t the case. Here at musicMagpie, we surveyed 1,000 gamers to uncover what positive effects gaming can have on relationships, friendships, and your mood. As well as this, we have also included tips on good gaming etiquette and what online habits to avoid.

The best games for friendships

Keeping in touch with friends during lockdown is a little easier for gamers, with 3 out of 4 of players catching up through online gaming instead of by phone. Over half of the players we spoke to said online gaming has kept friendships alive that otherwise would have been lost.

Online gaming isn’t just great for existing friends. The survey revealed that over half of all UK gamers have met new, lifelong friends through gaming. If the aim of your game is to find romance, then MLB The Show 20 is the game for you, with 1 in 4 players dating someone they met whist playing it online.

It’s not all fairy tales in the gaming world though, with over half of all gamers to arguing with their partners over the amount of time they spend on their console or damaging their controller or console in anger over gameplay.

Best Games for Relationships
Top Game
Made a lifelong friend whilst playing online
50.7%
Top Game
MLB The Show 20 Cover Art
Top game for making lifelong friends
MLB The Show 20
Met up with someone you they have met through online gaming
43.8%
Top Game
MLB The Show 20 Cover Art
Top game for meeting up with a friend through online gaming
MLB The Show 20
Dated someone you met through online gaming
37.4%
Top Game
MLB The Show 20 Cover Art
Top game for finding a date
MLB The Show 20
Had a meaningful conversation with someone online whilst gaming
62.7%
Top Game
Persona 5: Royal Cover Art
Top game for having a meaningful conversation
Persona 5: Royal
Caught up with a friend over online gaming, instead of by phone/in person
78.1%
Top Game
FIFA Cover Art
Top game for catching up with friends
FIFA
Used online gaming to stay in touch with friends during lockdown
68.4%
Top Game
Fortnite: Battle Royale Cover Art
Top game for staying in touch with friends
Fortnite: Battle Royale
Maintained a friendship through online gaming which would probably have been lost without it?
58.3%
Top Game
FIFA Cover Art
Top game for maintaining friendships
FIFA

Begin keeping in touch with your friends through gaming by purchasing a cheap PS4 and cheap games from musicMagpie. You can also buy Xbox 360 and other consoles.

Games by emotions

We asked regular players of over 30 of the most popular games right now to tell us how playing these games makes them feel. Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out on top for bringing happiness to 2 out of 3 of its players, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe won the title for the most exciting game. Valorant inspired the most rage, with 32% of its players experiencing anger while playing.

Select an emotion
Game
Happiness
Excitement
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
64.8%
55.2%
Just Dance 2020
60.7%
53.9%
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
58%
68.8%
Minecraft
53.3%
53.3%
FIFA
48.5%
66.7%
Marvel's The Avengers
48.4%
53.8%
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
48.1%
65.4%
Borderlands 3
46.9%
56.3%
Grand Theft Auto V
45.9%
64.6%
Persona 5: Royal
44.1%
32.4%
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
43.9%
59.6%
Apex Legends
42.9%
57.1%
The Witcher: Wild Hunt
42.5%
50%
Fortnite: Battle Royale
41.4%
52.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2
40.7%
58.6%
Rocket League
40.2%
50.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
38.9%
60.7%
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
38.9%
35.2%
Assassin's Creed Odessey
38.8%
58.1%
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
38.6%
62.5%
Dark Souls / Bloodborne / Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
38.5%
48.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare / Warzone
37.8%
64.9%
Overwatch
36.4%
54.5%
Mortal Kombat 11
34.5%
50.6%
NBA 2K20
34.4%
55.7%
Valorant
34.2%
18.4%
Nioh 2
32.3%
22.6%
Destiny 2
31.6%
53.2%
Anthem
28.6%
32.1%
Madden NFL 20
28.3%
51.7%
Tom Clancy's The Division 2
28.3%
50.9%
DOOM Eternal
27%
46%
Resident Evil 3
26.4%
52.8%
Warframe
26.3%
42.1%
MLB The Show 20
24.2%
42.4%
Game
Frustration
Disappointment
Valorant
34.2%
5.3%
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
33.3%
12.3%
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
32.1%
7.4%
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
31.5%
3.7%
Fortnite: Battle Royale
31.4%
12.1%
Dark Souls / Bloodborne / Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
30.8%
7.7%
MLB The Show 20
30.3%
15.2%
Tom Clancy's The Division 2
28.3%
5.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare / Warzone
27.1%
8%
DOOM Eternal
27%
6.3%
Mortal Kombat 11
26.4%
12.6%
Warframe
26.3%
13.2%
Overwatch
25.8%
12.1%
Apex Legends
25.4%
11.1%
The Witcher: Wild Hunt
25%
8.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
24.6%
8.1%
FIFA
24.1%
13.1%
Marvel's The Avengers
23.1%
5.5%
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
22.5%
6.5%
Minecraft
22.2%
7.8%
Rocket League
20.7%
9.2%
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
20.5%
5.7%
Madden NFL 20
20%
10%
Nioh 2
19.4%
12.9%
Grand Theft Auto V
18.7%
9%
Anthem
17.9%
17.9%
Resident Evil 3
17.9%
12.3%
Persona 5: Royal
17.6%
20.6%
Borderlands 3
17.2%
7.8%
Assassin's Creed Odessey
16.3%
10.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2
15.9%
8.3%
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
14.3%
3.8%
NBA 2K20
13.1%
11.5%
Destiny 2
12.7%
7.6%
Just Dance 2020
11.2%
2.2%
Game
Anger
Rage
Rocket League
25.3%
23%
Dark Souls / Bloodborne / Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
23.1%
13.5%
Anthem
21.4%
21.4%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare / Warzone
21.3%
19.6%
Tom Clancy's The Division 2
20.8%
17%
Mortal Kombat 11
20.7%
24.1%
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
19.3%
24.6%
DOOM Eternal
19%
14.3%
Overwatch
18.2%
22.7%
Fortnite: Battle Royale
17.1%
22.1%
The Witcher: Wild Hunt
16.3%
20%
Apex Legends
15.9%
28.6%
Valorant
15.8%
31.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2
15.2%
13.8%
FIFA
14.8%
19%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
14.7%
24.6%
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
13.6%
22.2%
Madden NFL 20
13.3%
20%
Marvel's The Avengers
13.2%
12.1%
Grand Theft Auto V
13.1%
21.3%
Nioh 2
12.9%
22.6%
Borderlands 3
12.5%
20.3%
Resident Evil 3
12.3%
17.9%
MLB The Show 20
12.1%
18.2%
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
11.1%
18.5%
Destiny 2
10.1%
16.5%
NBA 2K20
9.8%
11.5%
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
9.4%
13.8%
Persona 5: Royal
8.8%
23.5%
Warframe
7.9%
21.1%
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
7.6%
9.5%
Minecraft
7.2%
8.3%
Assassin's Creed Odessey
7%
15.5%
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
5.7%
13.6%
Just Dance 2020
4.5%
5.6%
Game
Upset
Sadness
Nioh 2
29%
16.1%
Anthem
21.4%
10.7%
MLB The Show 20
18.2%
12.1%
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
16.7%
9.3%
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
15.8%
10.5%
Persona 5: Royal
14.7%
14.7%
Fortnite: Battle Royale
13.6%
10.7%
Resident Evil 3
13.2%
14.2%
Tom Clancy's The Division 2
13.2%
11.3%
Destiny 2
12.7%
5.1%
Borderlands 3
12.5%
10.9%
Dark Souls / Bloodborne / Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
11.5%
9.6%
Apex Legends
11.1%
9.5%
Warframe
10.5%
15.8%
Madden NFL 20
10%
13.3%
Marvel's The Avengers
9.9%
11%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
9.5%
7.1%
Mortal Kombat 11
9.2%
10.3%
Overwatch
9.1%
12.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2
9%
17.2%
Rocket League
8%
12.6%
Valorant
7.9%
21.1%
Assassin's Creed Odessey
7.8%
7%
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
7.6%
5.7%
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
7.4%
7.4%
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
7.2%
8.7%
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
6.8%
5.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare / Warzone
6.7%
6.7%
DOOM Eternal
6.3%
9.5%
The Witcher: Wild Hunt
6.3%
15%
Minecraft
6.1%
6.7%
Grand Theft Auto V
5.6%
6.7%
FIFA
5.1%
8.9%
NBA 2K20
4.9%
9.8%
Just Dance 2020
1.1%
11.2%
Game
Fear
Resident Evil 3
26.4%
Dark Souls / Bloodborne / Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
21.2%
DOOM Eternal
19%
Madden NFL 20
10%
Fortnite: Battle Royale
7.9%
Nioh 2
6.5%
Borderlands 3
6.3%
The Witcher: Wild Hunt
6.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2
6.2%
MLB The Show 20
6.1%
Overwatch
6.1%
Persona 5: Royal
5.9%
Warframe
5.3%
Minecraft
5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare / Warzone
4.9%
Grand Theft Auto V
4.9%
Apex Legends
4.8%
Mortal Kombat 11
4.6%
Marvel's The Avengers
4.4%
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
3.7%
Anthem
3.6%
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
3.5%
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
3.4%
Assassin's Creed Odessey
3.1%
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
2.9%
Just Dance 2020
2.2%
Tom Clancy's The Division 2
1.9%
NBA 2K20
1.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
1.4%
Destiny 2
1.3%
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
1.2%
Rocket League
1.1%
FIFA
0.8%
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
0%
Valorant
0%

The worst habits of online gamers

To help our gamers get along, we asked about the most annoying habits online gamers can have. From our top 20, the most annoying thing an online gamer can do, according to the 1,000 gamers surveyed, is cheat through hacks, bots or cheat codes - with 2 out of 3 getting extremely annoyed at this. At the bottom of the list as least annoying is having new players on your team, showing a friendly and welcoming side to the gaming world.

Annoyance
% find it extremely annoying
1
Quit in the middle of game
% find it extremely annoying
67%
2
Kill you when you are on their team
% find it extremely annoying
63%
3
Cheat through hacks and / or bots
% find it extremely annoying
62%
4
Have bad internet connection so lag
% find it extremely annoying
62%
5
Are sore losers
% find it extremely annoying
62%
6
Quit out of annoyance from losing
% find it extremely annoying
61%
7
Cheat through exploits or glitches in games
% find it extremely annoying
61%
8
Use cheat codes
% find it extremely annoying
58%
9
Steal your kills
% find it extremely annoying
58%
10
Hide instead of helping you when you are being attacked
% find it extremely annoying
57%
11
Are poor winners
% find it extremely annoying
57%
12
Breathe heavily down the mic
% find it extremely annoying
57%
13
Send game requests repeatedly when you are busy
% find it extremely annoying
57%
14
Pretend to be on your side then kill you
% find it extremely annoying
57%
15
Camp for easy kills
% find it extremely annoying
54%
16
Spawn camping
% find it extremely annoying
52%
17
Singing into the mic
% find it extremely annoying
51%
18
Buy in-game products which give them an advantage
% find it extremely annoying
49%
19
Use bad language
% find it extremely annoying
46%
20
Ditch campaign mode to try and earn more achievements/trophies instead
% find it extremely annoying
45%
21
Are new to the game and are very bad at it, and are on your team
% find it extremely annoying
45%

Trade in games that you no longer play at musicMagpie. You can sell PS4 games and recycle games to raise some extra cash from the games gathering dust at home too.