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The 10 Best States for Video Game Fans

These states are a video game fanatic’s paradise.
ByCaLea Johnson|
Did your state make the cut?
Did your state make the cut? | Vera Vita/GettyImages

Over the decades, video games have grown from a niche hobby to one of the most common leisure activities worldwide. If you’ve ever wondered which American states are best suited for gaming fanatics, check out the list below.

The online learning platform Prodigy Education analyzed data from Yelp and the esports website EGamersWorld to create this ranking. Researchers considered the quality and number of video game-related businesses and events in each state, including arcades, video game stores, lounges designated for gaming, and esports competitions. Google search volume trends were also considered in the study. You can see a map of which states had the most video game-related searches per capita below. All metrics were weighted and used to calculate scores on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 representing the ideal environment for gamers.

Map of gaming-related searches per state.
See which states are searching for video games the most. | Prodigy

According to Prodigy Education, Delaware is the most video game-obsessed state per capita, scoring 76.16. It has the most arcades and stores per 100,000 residents, making it a haven for the hobby. Alan Wake II, a survival game released in 2023, is the most-searched title in the state.

Rhode Island (51.53) comes in second place. Although it only has one gaming lounge per 100,000 residents, there are 33 arcades and 47 video game-related stores per the same amount of people. The most-search game in the state is The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom for the Nintendo Switch.

Rounding out the top three states is New Hampshire (47.09), which also favored The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom over all other titles. The state is home to an impressive 51 arcades per 100,000 people, the second-most of any spot on the list behind Delaware.

If you love esports, consider visiting California, which hosts the most of all 50 states. Meanwhile, Nevada boasts the most gaming lounges at 13 per 100,000 people. Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana are the states that offer the least activities for gamers, with scores of 13.08, 13.5, and 13.74, respectively.

Here’s the full list of the top 10 game-obsessed states in the U.S.:

  1. Delaware
  2. Rhode Island
  3. New Hampshire
  4. Connecticut
  5. Nevada
  6. New Jersey
  7. Maryland
  8. Vermont
  9. California
  10. Texas

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