Gaming can be a pastime without becoming a personal label. Pew Research Center’s 2023 survey of U.S. teens drew that line clearly: 85% said they played video games, yet 40% identified as gamers, while 45% played without using that label. That gap gives current discussion about fandom, social spaces, and collectible digital extras a useful frame. These forms of participation can express affiliation, but they do not define every player.
Franchise-linked extras offer one visible route into that conversation. A player might choose Call of Duty bundle deals for skins, packs, bundles, or DLC connected to a familiar game world, treating optional items as a personal expression of interest. The purchase alone does not prove commitment or personality. Its meaning comes from a player’s own use and the shared context around the franchise.
Shared knowledge gives fandom a social role
Research in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication describes gamer identity as voluntary and socially constructed, with friendship networks providing an important setting for performing it. Playing frequency and the types of games people consume were also associated with stronger self-identification. In this view, familiarity with characters, stories, mechanics, and community references can serve as cultural and social capital. It gives people common material for conversation and recognition while leaving room for different degrees of participation.
Players can buy digital games through official platform stores or digital marketplaces. Eneba is one option for game keys or gift cards, and its product pages show platform and regional information for choices across platforms and regions, with verified merchants providing the marketplace context.
Fandom therefore has value beyond collecting facts about a series. Shared references can help friends discuss a favorite world, recognize another person’s interest, or decide what to play together. That does not mean every knowledgeable player adopts a gamer identity. It does show why identity can emerge through social interaction rather than through playtime alone.
Social spaces turn play into self-expression
The social side of gaming is clear in Pew’s findings for U.S. teens surveyed in 2023. Among teen players, 89% said they played with others in person or online, and 47% said they had made an online friend through a video game. Spending time with others was also a reason to play for 72% of teen players. Friend groups and gaming-oriented online spaces can give those shared sessions a place to continue through discussion and familiar references.
The difference between players who use the gamer label and those who do not is notable. Pew found that 68% of teens who identified as gamers had made an online friend through a game, compared with 29% of players who did not identify that way. The figures do not establish a cause, yet they illustrate the close relationship between social connection and self-identification for this group. Gaming can remain a casual activity for one person and a meaningful social category for another.
Avatars, usernames, and user-created content add another layer. A 2025 academic review notes that social gaming can offer young people opportunities to explore personas through these forms of presentation. An avatar may reflect an authentic self, an idealized self, or an identity a player wishes to avoid. Collectible extras fit within that wider set of options as possible, visible signs of franchise interest rather than requirements for belonging.
Gaming identity remains flexible because people participate in different ways and attach different meanings to them. For players who want franchise-linked digital products, digital marketplaces like Eneba offer deals on digital products while providing platform and regional details that help match an item to the intended account and system.
