High Scores and Higher IQs: Who’s Really Winning the Console Brain Game? (Updated 2025 results)
Playing video games does have its benefits, as recent studies have shown that enjoying some online action can improve your brain and cognitive function, but you may have reservations, particularly if you’ve ever tried multiplayer games.
In this article we reveal:
- The Smartest Gamers by Game
- The Smartest Gamers by Consoles
- The Smartest Gender of Gamers: Men vs Women
- Results Compared to 2024
How The Survey Was Done:
To find out which video game player bases are the smartest, WhichBingo surveyed 1,010 gamers (aged 18+) and partnered up with a team of psychologists to administer an intelligence test based on a variety of factors.
The remote IQ test assessed the cognitive skills of participants in four areas: verbal communication, mathematics, logic and visual reasoning.
Participants were asked which games they primarily play and on what device (the most), to determine the results. So, let’s see who the final bosses are…
Top 20 Smartest Player Bases: Dota 2 Dominates, FC26 at the Bottom
Coming out on top is the ever-popular Dota 2, where players of the strategy game scored the highest IQ on average with 120.8, and jumped up seven places from 2024 to claim first place.
That is followed by players of League Of Legends who came in with an average of 120.2 which dropped one place to take second place. Rounding out the top three are gamers of Counter Strike with an average IQ of 118.3.
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Strategy Games > Sports Games
Gamers of new releases fared strongly overall, with Elden Ring Nightreign, which was released in May 2025, scoring 117.3, while Battlefield 6 scored an average of 111.2.
For context, IQ scores sub 85 is deemed below average intelligence, a score between 85 – 115 is deemed average intelligence, while anything over 115 is deemed above average intelligence.
The recent findings show strategy games and those with role-playing narratives rank high whilst the latest release in the EA Sports FC franchise recorded the lowest IQ in the study, with an average of 90.4.
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The Device Duel: PC Players Come Out On Top
When it comes to ranking IQ by device games are played on, PC gamers reigned supreme, with an average of 114.8.
Playstation gamers followed in second place with an average IQ of 112.7 and beat X Box gamers who scored 107.4. Those gamers who like to play on the move on either their mobile or tablet ranked lowest with an average of 100.2.
Gender IQ comparison: Female gamers leading the way
Contrary to stereotypes, the study found that female gamers beat their male counterparts in terms of average IQ. Female gamers recorded an average IQ of 108.1, while male gamers averaged 106.7.
GG ladies.
2024 comparison
Compared to the 2024 survey, there are some notable changes with Dota 2 climbing seven places to take top spot as 2024’s results saw an average IQ of 111.7. League of Legends remained strong with its second-place finish after scoring an average of 120.4 while Counter Strike and Elden Ring: Nightreign still remained high in the poll with average IQ scores last year of 116.1 and 114.6 respectively.
Battlefield 6 also saw a rise in the poll, moving up three places after an increase on last year’s score of 105.8. Despite an improved average, FC 26 was rock bottom much like its predecessor FC 25 which scored 89.8 in 2024 while Rocket League finished just ahead much like it did in 2024, after getting an average of 90.8.
There were strong showings for new entries that didn’t rank in 2024 with Dying Light: The Beast scoring an average of 115.6 and Kingdom Come Deliverance: 2 coming in just behind at 115.4. Borderlands 4 also made it onto the list with a score of 112.5 and will be hoping to consolidate that position in 2026.
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What do you make of these results? Are we missing your favourite game? Which titles would you like to see included in 2026?
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