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SURVEY REVEALS U.S. GAMER MARKET IS DIVERSIFYING
Parks Associates Identifies Six Distinct Groups, Based on Time
Spent, Motivation
For years, game developers and marketers have focused only on two types
of videogame players: hardcore gamers and casual players. Recent analysis
from a survey of nearly 2,000 U.S. online gamers by Dallas-based market
research firm Parks Associates (Electronic
Gaming in the Digital Home) indicates that the gamer community has
diversified to include six distinct groups and, most importantly, a new
middle market has emerged, all with different motivations, gaming
behaviors, and spending patterns.
Traditionally ignored by marketers, the three segments Social Gamers,
Leisure Gamers, and Dormant Gamers account for 53% of the
Internet gamer population and 56% of the retail revenue, according to
Electronic
Gaming in the Digital Home.
According to
Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, Director of Broadband and Gaming, Parks
Associates, reaching this untapped middle market represents a distinct
challenge to marketers. “If game companies insist on chasing the mythical
hardcore and casual gamer segments, they will miss out on more than half
of the market,”
Cai
said. “The market is not black and white anymore, and game marketers need
to understand these finer nuances.”
Parks Associates identifies six segments:
- Power gamers represent 11 percent of the gamer market but account
for 30 cents of every dollar spent on retail and online games.
- Social gamers enjoy gaming as a way to interact with friends.
- Leisure gamers spend 58 hours per month playing games but mainly on
casual titles. Nevertheless they prefer challenging titles and show high
interest in new gaming services.
- Dormant gamers love gaming but spend little time because of family,
work, or school. They like to play with friends and family and prefer
complex and challenging games.
- Incidental gamers lack motivation and play games mainly out of
boredom. However, they spend more than 20 hours a month playing online
games.
- Occasional gamers play puzzle, word, and board games almost
exclusively.
A surprising finding of the study was the importance of social
interaction to a wide range of gamers, not just power gamers.
“Social and leisure gamers may play simple, non-competitive games, but
they want to play these games with friends and players they meet online,”
Cai
said. “For this type of gamer, there simply aren’t that many options.”
Cai
segmented his gamer respondents based on two key factors: time spent
gaming and gamer motivation and attitudes.
“It may be difficult to quantify motivation and attitude, but that is
what determines how a gamer spends time and money on gaming activities and
services,”
Cai
said. “Leaving out gaming expenditures frees marketers from current
business models and allows them to explore new ways to reach highly
motivated gamers that aren’t spending much on gaming.”
For more information about
Electronic
Gaming in the Digital Home, contact sales@parksassociates.com.
About Parks Associates: Parks Associates is an
internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing
in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks
Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to
small start-ups through market reports, primary studies, consumer research,
custom research, workshops, executive conferences, and annual service
subscriptions.
The company's expertise includes new media, digital
entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services,
digital health, mobile applications and services, consumer electronics, and home
control systems and security.
Each year, Parks Associates hosts executive thought
leadership conferences CONNECTIONS™, with support from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA®), and CONNECTIONS™ Europe. In addition, Parks
Associates produces the online publication Industry Insights in
conjunction with the CONNECTIONS™ Conference series.
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