There comes a point in every gaming dad’s life when an uncomfortable possibility presents itself: the kids might actually be getting good.

Not letting them win good. Not surprisingly competent for their age good. Actually capable of handing you the controller equivalent of a public humiliation.

Australian dads though, aren’t ready to concede defeat just yet.

New research commissioned by Logitech G found that 59% of Australian fathers surveyed believe they outperform their kids when gaming on computers and consoles. Just 27% admit their children have the edge.

Mums are considerably less bullish about their place on the family leaderboard. Only 32% reckon they’re better than their kids, while 52% say the younger generation has them beaten.

It’s an entertaining Father’s Day statistic, but buried underneath the parental bragging rights is something considerably more interesting.

The kids who grew up gaming are now the parents

Logitech G surveyed 822 Australian parents aged between 18 and 45 and found that 56% play video games with their children. Almost one in five do so at least once a week.

Fathers appear particularly enthusiastic about it, averaging 3.2 hours of gaming with their kids each week compared with 1.9 hours for mothers.

That’s a fairly significant cultural shift.

For a generation of Australian parents, gaming isn’t some mysterious pastime happening behind a teenager’s closed bedroom door. These are people who grew up with PlayStations, Xboxes, Nintendo consoles and gaming PCs themselves.

Now they’re introducing their own kids to the hobby.

“As a father myself, I sympathise with Aussie dads on this one,” said Dan Hall, Senior Category Manager at Logitech G ANZ.

“Watching my kids grow and learn is one of the greatest joys of my life, but am I prepared to let them pass me on the virtual racetrack? The jury’s out.”

Fair enough.

There are some things a parent should surrender gracefully.

Mario Kart supremacy isn’t necessarily one of them.

Gaming as family time

The more interesting finding concerns what happens away from the leaderboard.

According to Logitech G, parents who play video games with their children at least once a week reported spending more than two additional hours of quality time with their kids each week compared with parents who don’t game with them, or do so less frequently.

That’s worth treating with some caution.

The research shows an association, not necessarily cause and effect. Parents who regularly game with their children may simply be parents who already spend more recreational time with them. We can’t conclude from these figures alone that picking up a controller creates another two hours of family bonding.

But it does challenge an increasingly dated idea that gaming necessarily competes with family time.

For plenty of households, gaming is family time.

It’s another shared activity alongside watching a movie, kicking a football around, building Lego or sitting down for a board game.

And perhaps that’s the more significant generational change happening here.

The controller has changed hands

Gaming has been mainstream for long enough that we’re increasingly seeing parents sharing games they love with their children rather than merely supervising their children’s screen time.

That creates some wonderful little reversals.

The parent who once had to negotiate with their own mum or dad for another half-hour on the console is now the one deciding when it’s time to switch it off.

The kid who needed help getting past a difficult section eventually becomes the person explaining the controls.

And sooner or later, despite what 59% of Australian gaming dads currently believe, the apprentice is probably going to beat the master.

Repeatedly.

Enjoy the bragging rights while they last, dads.