ESA Study on Sales, Demographics of Video Games

[Venkman]

Gamasutra runs this article about the video game industry which is mostly based on this report (pdf) from the ESA. It contains some very interesting data points beyond the mere finances the Gamasutra summary highlighted.

- The demographic is aging. Only 18% of game players are under 18.  I imagine its because gamers never really outgrow games and so many started in the 70s and 80s. this came up in an earlier report this week from E3.
- From a revenue standpoint, there's a lot more freemium/ad supported games than when we were kids, so the revenue is shifting.
- Parents and kids are playing together more. I never had that when i was a kid. But gamers have become parents without "outgrowing" games. Nice vindication there :)
- 12 of the top 20 computer games sold were either WoW (and expansions) or Sims (expansions and sequels). Meanwhile thetop selling computer game across the board is Starcraft II, which probably all by itself skews the "Top selling computer games by super genre" to show that Strategy is the most popular.
- Industry is at a plateau, with slight declines in media based sales being offset by digital sales.

Thought it was all pretty interesting and worth a read.

[Lucas]

I like the fact that the demographic is aging. Of course what I'm going to say concerns a minority of the demographic, but I like to think that the age 33 (my age) - 40 are those who started playing back in the early eighties and sticked to gaming, converting it from a adolescent hobby to a real passion.

[sinij]

Alright, so gamers are aging. Where is premium content? In college I was driving a beater and now I am driving luxury car. Where is my luxury games that pamper my every whim?

[Ice Cream Emperor]

Yeah I gotta say -- the demographic is aging, but judging by the games being produced it feels like it's not exactly maturing very much. I still feel like most games are designed by and for 15 year old boys.

[caladein]

Yeah I gotta say -- the demographic is aging, but judging by the games being produced it feels like it's not exactly maturing very much. I still feel like most games are designed by and for 15 year old boys.

[Strazos]

 

[Malakili]

Alright, so gamers are aging. Where is premium content? In college I was driving a beater and now I am driving luxury car. Where is my luxury games that pamper my every whim?

What, sparkling unicorn mounts isn't enough?

[Azazel]

Hah! Get yourself a RAF 2-seater rocket.

As for Sinji - that's what those EA "time saver" DLC packs are all about.

[Venkman]

Yeah I gotta say -- the demographic is aging, but judging by the games being produced it feels like it's not exactly maturing very much. I still feel like most games are designed by and for 15 year old boys.

Heh. Well it's not like a critical mass of today's teenagers are playing Rift. Our premium content is the endless supply of subscription-based time sinks only us aging gamers are willing to pay.

But that also shows this report is coming after the trends have already been established. Plenty still think the core demographic is the same disposable income/care-free 18-24 year old male, when it's really a much older group of people (and more gender balanced at that) who, to our parents, never outgrew being that 18-24 year old gamer :) We just keep buying the same stuff.

Meanwhile, it seems like the tweens and teens are playing as many games but not paying for them in the same way or to the same amount. The old PC vs console argument is turned on its head because it's no longer a like to like comparison of dollars spent and games played. Not until Zynga launches some console ports, though that's not happening anytime soon.

[Nija]

Alright, so gamers are aging. Where is premium content? In college I was driving a beater and now I am driving luxury car. Where is my luxury games that pamper my every whim?

Neo Geo?

[Sjofn]

Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (37%) than boys age 17 or younger (13%)

That should surprise no one at all, but I bet it does. And I am sure it will be dismissed that most of those ladies don't play "real" games by those random weird dudes who still like to insist Women Don't Play Games.

I liked the parenting section, some of that did surprise me. The number one reason parents play with their kids (because they were asked to) made me go "awww."

[Lantyssa]

That should surprise no one at all, but I bet it does. And I am sure it will be dismissed that most of those ladies don't play "real" games by those random weird dudes who still like to insist Women Don't Play Games.

From my local circle of people, I've known a fairly even breakdown of men and women who play games.  The men play a wider variety, but the women end up the hardcore raider types.

Maybe one day game makers will figure out that we do like games and we can be every bit as serious about it.

[WindupAtheist]

Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (37%) than boys age 17 or younger (13%)

That should surprise no one at all, but I bet it does. And I am sure it will be dismissed that most of those ladies don't play "real" games by those random weird dudes who still like to insist Women Don't Play Games.

If Farmville counts then this statistic is meaningless and you know it. 

[Margalis]

These kinds of reports are generally less interesting than they appear because of a variety of issues like treating a guy who lines up at midnight to buy a $60 console game the same as a woman who plays Bejeweled and the fact that parents buying games for their kids skews purchase ages upwards.

Maybe one day game makers will figure out that we do like games and we can be every bit as serious about it.

Typical console development teams are almost uniformly male, even if they could accept that women want to play "real" games most would have no idea how to make a game more in tune with what women want.

[Murgos]

...random weird dudes who still like to insist Women Don't Play Games.

Not only do women not play games but there aren't any on the internet either. See?