PlayFirst and Frank N. Magid Associates released the results of the first study of digital gameplay behavior.
The study reveals that two-thirds of American adults play some type of digital game, and one out of three regularly play casual games on social networks, smartphones, or computer platforms.
Amongst gamers, nearly 80% of those 18-34 play casual games regularly, and fully 80% say they enjoy playing games more than watching movies, listening to music, and reading books, newspapers, or magazines.
Social networking and social gaming are stealing time away from traditional videogames. Gamers play on multiple types of platforms:
- 87% play games on PC/Mac platforms.
- 50% play games on Facebook.
- 28% play games on Smartphones.
- 52% play on at least two of the three platforms.
- 14% play on all three platforms.
Gender Plays into Gaming
- When it comes to gameplay, 90% of women rank 'entertaining' and 77% rank 'easy to understand and play' as their preferred game elements. For men, the two highest preferred game elements are 'challenging to finish' (79%) and 'makes me feel like I accomplished something' (75%).
- Facebook game players are more likely to be millennial women, where as iPhone game players are more likely to be young men.
- While women play a lot of games, it's an activity rather than part of their identity: nearly 60% of female players don't consider themselves a "gamer".
- Men have no problem with the label "gamer" as nearly 40% of men who play games strongly agree they are gamers.
- More then two in five (42%) of women prefer games they can play while multitasking, whereas well over half (58%) of men prefer games with state-of-the-art graphics and technology.
"Casual digital gameplay has truly become a pervasive part of the American lifestyle now that we can take our games with us anywhere and play them anytime," said Mari Baker, president and CEO of PlayFirst. "The popularity of emotionally engaging casual games is exploding due to the convenience factor that mobile and social platforms bring to game players of both genders and all ages."
"The face of gaming is evolving to a broader group more representative of the overall population," said Mike Vorhaus, president of Magid Advisors, a unit of Frank N. Magid Associates. "Gaming is a cross-generational, cross-platform activity that's ubiquitous yet requires unique and targeted experiences to be successful. Different groups value different things on different platforms, and by honing in on those differences, a multi-platform publisher can further optimize its product strategy."