The audiences who play games are mainstream, educated, income-earning and diverse.
Forget the stereotype of a gamer being a sweaty teenage boy locked in their bedroom for hours on end. In fact, more adult females play games regularly than male teenagers (34% vs 18% of all gamers).
- 45% of gamers are female (55% of ‘social gamers’ such as Facebook gamers are female)
- The average age of a game player is 32.
- The average age of an avid PC gamer is 42. 25% gamers are over 50.
- The average gamer spends 13 hours playing games each week.
- 88% of Australian households have a device to play computer games. 61% have more than one. 43% have a games console.
- 80% of parents in these households play games with their children.
- Only 15% of games sold are rated ‘Mature’. The most popular genre of game sold is ‘Family Games.’
- 59% of people aged 6-65 in the UK play games, and 52% of those are in the top ‘ABC1’ socio-economic group, according to a BBC study.
- 71 million Facebook users play Farmville every month (18% of the 400 million people ever registered on Facebook). 55% are female and the average age is 48.
In addition to who does play games regularly, these stats show that almost any group can play games if one is put in front of them via your marketing, training or business. In addition to these overall stats, we can advise on what genres of game appeal to different groups.
Sources: Entertainment Software Association, GfK Retail and Technology (Australia and New Zealand), NPD, BBC