Gamer Demographics, Stats, Health Stats

Game Demo and
Psychographics
What Exists? Who Plays? What Do We Know?

Ben Sawyer
bsawyer@dmill.com

Friday, June 19, 2009

Notes...
This presentation has been upgraded since delivering it
initially at Games for Health 2009

The use of the term demographics is fairly loose focusing
not only on core demographic issues but also some
psychographic issues as well


What I’m Playing...

June ’09

Current State of Game Demographics

• 5-6 Major Current Sources of Information
• Only one sustained major public effort
• Several minor but sustained public efforts
• More work concerning online players then
other players types or players in general



• There are a number of private surveys - some of
which can be purchased but buyer beware

• Most private surveys are highly focused on sales
& consumer uptake projections not deeper
questions of context and outcomes of play



• Overall body of work lacks many important details...

• Very little in terms of global statistics especially in
emerging markets

• There is little breakdown by ethnicity even in
North America

• There is little data provided in raw form where it
can be reused effectively as new data emerges


Insert Rant...

A public source of consistently sustained, raw
data, concerned with issues beyond sales and
consumer adoption that is both deep and
global in scope is needed if we’re going to see
robust application of games and game
technologies worldwide


Core Sources

• Entertainment Software Association
• Pew Internet & Life Project
• The Daedalus Project by Nick Yee
• Dmitri Williams
• Valve’s Steam Distribution Service


Entertainment Software Association (USA)

• 68 of American Households play
computer or video games

• 60% male
: 40% female

• Women 18 or older are 34% of the
game playing pop vs. boys 17 or younger
(18%)

• Average purchaser is 39

• 52 Male / 48 female - % of purchases

• 63% say games are a positive part of
their children's lives



• Average Age is 35

• 49% 18-49

• 25% Under 18

• 26% Over 50

• 12 Years (Avg. Years Adult Gamers Have
Been Playing)

• 62% of Gamers play in Person with
Other Gamers



• 42% of homes in America have Consoles

• Reasons Parents Play

• Fun for family (82%)

• They’re Asked To (81%)

• Socialize with My Kids (78%)

• Monitor Content (63%)


Pew Internet &
American Life Project

• Teens and Video Games
• http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2008/
Teens-Video-Games-and-Civics.aspx
• PEW INTERNET PROJECT DATA MEMO
• http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2008/
Adults-and-Video-Games.aspx


Teens

• Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Gaming and Civic Engagement Survey of
Teens/Parents, Nov. 2007-Feb. 2008
• Teens who play games n=1064. Margin of error
is ±3%


Pew/Teens : Summary I
• Fully 97% of teens ages 12-17 play
computer, web, portable, or console games
• 50% of teens played games “yesterday”
• 86% of teens play on a console like the
Xbox, PlayStation, or Wii
• 73% play games on a desktop or a laptop
computer


Pew/Teens : Boys/Girls
• Fully 99% of boys and 94% of girls play video
games. Younger teen boys are the most likely
to play games, followed by younger girls and
older boys. Older girls are the least
• “enthusiastic” players of video games, though
more than half of them play. Some 65% of
daily gamers are male; 35% are female.


What Teens Play...
• Racing (NASCAR, Mario Kart, Burnout) 74% Note: games listed
• Puzzle (Bejeweled, Tetris, Solitaire) 72 in parenthesis were
provided to
• Sports (Madden, FIFA, Tony Hawk) 68
respondents on an
• Action (Grand Theft Auto, Devil May Cry, Ratchet and Clank) 67
as-needed basis by
• Adventure (Legend of Zelda, Tomb Raider) 66 interviewers; not
• Rhythm (Guitar Hero, Dance Dance Revolution, Lumines) 61 every respondent
• Strategy (Civilization IV, StarCraft, Command and Conquer) 59 received the
prompts.
• Simulation (The Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Ace Combat) 49
• Fighting (Tekken, Super Smash Bros., Mortal Kombat) 49
• First-Person Shooters (Halo, Counter-Strike, Half-Life) 47
• Role-Playing (Final Fantasy, Blue Dragon, Knights of the Old Republic) 36
• Survival Horror (Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Condemned) 32
• MMOGs (World of Warcraft) 21
• Virtual Worlds (Second Life, Gaia, Habbo Hotel) 10


Pew/Teens : Frequently
Mentioned as Playing
• Halo 161
All numbers
(104 no specific version / 57 Halo 3)
are derived
• Guitar Hero 158 from a total of
• Madden NFL / Madden 08 136
(77 no specific version / 59 Madden ’08)
1064 survey
participants.

• Solitaire 65
• Dance Dance Revolution 60
• Tetris 59
• Grand Theft Auto (no specific version) 58
• The Sims (no specific version) 54


PEW/Teens :
Gender / Ethnicity Points
• Girls, black, and lower-income teens more likely to use cell phones to
play games

• Among gaming teens, there are some differences by race or ethnicity in
types of games played. Black teens more likely to report playing racing
games than white or Hispanic teens

• Black teens and are more likely to play sports and adventure games
than white teens (though not Hispanic youth)

• Black and Hispanic teens are more likely than white teens to play
ﬁghting games and survival horror games

• White and Hispanic teens are more likely to play rhythm games than
black teens. White youth are more likely to play MMOGs than black
teens (but not Hispanic teens)


Pew/Teens : Ratings?

• The average rating of all “favorite” games
mentioned by survey respondents averaged
just above a T, or Teen rating
• 50% of boys name a game with an M or A/O
rating as one of their current top three
favorites, compared with 14% of girls


Pew/Teens : Ratings?
• Nearly one-third of young teens play M- or AO-rated games
• Almost one-third (32%) of teens in survey play at least one game
rated M or AO
• Of these... 79% are boys and 21% are girls
• 12-14 yr-olds are equally likely to play M- or AO-rated games as their
15-17 yr-old counterparts
• 28% of 12-14-yr-olds list an M- or AO-rated game as a favorite, as do
36% of teens ages 15-17
• For a small number of teens, all three of the games they mentioned
had a version with an M or an AO rating;
• For others, only one of the games they offered as their top three current
favorites was an M- or AO-rated game


Pew/Teens :
Playing Together & Alone

• 65% of game-playing teens play with other
people who are in the room with them
• 27% play games with people who they
connect with through the internet
• 82% play games alone, although 71% of this
group also plays with others


Pew/Teens :
• And nearly 3 in 5 teens (59%) of teens play games in
multiple ways—with others in the same room, with
others online or alone.

• 42% of teens who play games in multiple ways say they
play most often with others in the same room.

• 42% of teens who play games in multiple ways most often
play alone.

• 15% of teens who play games in multiple ways play most
often with those they are connected to via the internet.


Pew/Teens :
• Close to half of teens who play online games play with people
they know offline

• Online gamers are more likely to report playing games mostly
with people they know offline than with teens they met
online.

• Of teens who play games online with others:
• 47% of teens play online games with people they know offline
• 27% of teens play online games with people they first met online
• 23% of teens play with both friends & family known offline + people they
met online


Pew/Teens :

Few parents play games
with their children


Pew/Adults : Summary
• Survey was 2008
• Over half of American adults play video
games, and four out of ﬁve young adults play
• Among adults, computers are the most
popular gaming device, but among young
adults gaming consoles are preferred
• Virtual worlds only draw a small crowd


Pew/Adult : Summary II
• Older adult gamers play games more frequently
• Younger generations tend to dominate the gaming world;
however, older respondents who do play games are more avid
players.
• Older gamers, particularly seniors, tend to play games more
frequently. 36% of gamers 65 and older say they play games
everyday/almost everyday, compared with...
• 19% of adults aged 50-64
• Senior gamers may play more frequently as they have more time
• 77% of senior gamers reported being retired


Pew/Adult:
Race/Ethnicity

• No statistically signiﬁcant difference in game
play between ethnic groups on computers
or game consoles
• Blacks and Hispanics more likely to play
games on cell phones and portable gaming
devices


Pew/Adult : Platforms

• Desktop or laptop 45% 35%
• Game console 41 22
• Cell phone, Blackberry, or other handheld
organizer 25 16
• Portable gaming device 21 10


Pew/Adult : Online vs. Ofﬂine
• Just under a quarter (23%) of all adults play games
online
• 43% of adults ages 18-29 play games online
• 26% of people ages 30-49
• 13% of people ages 50-64,
• 5% of those 65 and older

• Adults are much less likely to play games online than
teens

• 76% of all teens play games online and 79% of teen
gamers play games online


Warning...
• I’ve found that people’s perception of what is an
“online” game vs. ofﬂine game can create
distortion with such questions

• For me (and many game designers) there is a
critical distinction between playing a game
accessed via online means and playing online
against other humans

• It is likely online against other humans is a subset
of all games actually accessed online


Pew/Adult:
Virtual Worlds
• Just 2% of gamers say they have ever visited a virtual world,
such as Second Life

• One in ten teens and 11% of teen gamers reported visiting
virtual worlds

• A total 6% of adults say they have created an avatar, or online
representation of themselves often used for participation in
virtual worlds and in some online games and social networks

• Warning : This number is probably rising fast but still low
overall in 2009/2010


Pew/Adult : MMOGs
• Slightly more (9%) game players, however, say that they have played
MMOGs vs.Virtual Worlds

• Young adults are signiﬁcantly more likely than average adults to play
MMOGs, as 14% of 18-29-year-old gamers report playing these
types of games

• Teens are even more likely to play MMOGs, with 21% of teen
gamers reporting MMOG play

• Warning : Many teens play free MMOGs (e.g. RuneScape) and many
families with teens will play subscription MMOGs together as units
(e.g. multiple family members playing same character) thus the story
behind some of these rising numbers is not well parsed yet.


Dmitri Williams
www.dmitriwilliams.com


Who plays, how much, and why?
Debunking the stereotypical gamer proﬁle
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121394419/HTMLSTART?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Dmitri Williams a Nick Yee b Scott E. Caplan c

• Teens, 12–17 6.6%
• College-age, 18–22 12.4%
• Young adult, 23–29 26.3%
• Thirties, 30–39 36.7%
• Forties, 40–49 12.4%
• Fifty or older, 50–65 4.8%




M W
• Achievement 3.5 3.17
• Social 3.14 3.22
• Immersion 3.29 3.38




• EQ2 players have an average BMI of 25.19 vs. avg. American adult,
who has a BMI of 28

• 22.2% of EQ2 players are technically obese compared to 30.5% of
American adults

• Among children and adolescents (ages 11–19), EQ2 players have
lower BMIs, with an average of 21.96 compared to 23.3 for US
adolescents

• “...while adolescent EQ2 players are still healthier than their
nonplaying counterparts, they do not have as large an advantage as
the older population.”




• EQ2 players have lower levels of mental health on two out of the three
indicators.

• 22.76% of EQ2 players reported having been diagnosed with depression.

• This level is larger for the female players 36.52% vs. males 19.38%

• Avg. U.S. population: 23% rate for women and an 11% rate for men.

• Players had a slightly higher rate of substance addiction 5.56% vs. 4.8% for
the general population

• The exception to this pattern was anxiety for which EQ2 players
reported slightly lower levels 16.6% vs. 18.1%




“"What was somewhat surprising was the trend for older players to play more
than younger ones, and for women to play more than men. Game developers
have assumed that adolescents and college-aged populations have more free
time and have tooled their MMOs accordingly as their player base has aged
(Beliaeff, 2007).

They have also assumed that males are their most devoted audience.
However, both assumptions are incorrect.Young males are often tagged as the
‘‘hard core,’’ but it is the adults and the females who log the most hours. "”


"The Daedalus Project"
by Nick Yee
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/

• MMORPG gamers spend on average 21.0 hours per week playing the game
(N = 1996), and spend on average 7.7 hours per week watching TV (N =
1996).

• The national average for TV watching per week is around 28

• Time spent watching TV has been displaced by MMORPG playing.

• Female players are on average older than male players (33.0 vs. 28.4)

• Spend more hours in the game than male players (22.3 vs. 19.0)

• Spike in play-time among female players over the age of 35


Bruce Woodcocks MMOG Chart
http://www.mmogchart.com/


British Board of Film Classification
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/news/stories/20070417.html

Benefits of gaming: "People play games to escape from every day
life and to escape to a world of adventure without risk which is
under the control of the gamer, unlike the real world. Games
provide a sense of achievement and are active, unlike television
and films which are passive. However, games are better at
developing action than building character and as such gamers
tend to care less about the storyline than making progress in the
game. Gamers claim that playing games is mentally stimulating and
that playing develops hand eye coordination."


STEAM Statistics
http://store.steampowered.com/stats/


STEAM Statistics
http://store.steampowered.com/stats/
English Danish
(+0.77%) 59.42% (+0.04%) 1.20%
German Korean
(+0.15%) 8.74% (-0.04%) 1.13% Steam queries OS language
French
Japanese setting and reports providing
(-0.05%) 0.87% some interesting international
(+0.44%) 8.24% Simpliﬁed Chinese
Russian (-0.24%) 0.66% statistics. Keep in mind though
(-1.28%) 6.21% Finnish these are often higher-end PC
Spanish (+0.01%) 0.58% centric gamers hence the
(-0.22%) 2.47% Italian strong 2nd place showing by
Polish (-0.08%) 0.57%
German. Also English includes
(+0.22%) 2.39% Dutch
(+0.02%) 0.54% UK and Australia and most of
Portuguese
Norwegian Canada while French likely
(-0.01%) 2.38%
Swedish
(+0.01%) 0.52% include Quebec
Unknown
(+0.12%) 1.85% (+0.01%) 0.16%
Traditional Chinese Thai
(+0.11%) 1.71% (0.00%) 0.08%


Nintendo Executive Presentations

Countering his own notorious
comments that the Nintendo Wii is
in its worst situation since launch,
Iwata showed some interesting
statistics. "How many [maybes] are
there?" Japan, U.S., and six European
territories comprise 295 million
who actively play console or
handheld games -- "big software
purchasers." However, 149 million
"maybes" exist. "Imagine the
opportunity, if the number of
players is 50% larger than it is right
now," Iwata said.


IGN Gamer Metrics

Paid service. Mostly focused on purchase intent, brand awareness, heavily
focused on “informed” gamers who spend time on IGNs game enthusiast
Web sites. Households probably have PCs vs. Mobile Web Access.


Conclusion
• Lots of people game! Good!
• Lots of myths vs. data still prevail... Bad!
• There are some demographics and statistics
to start using to shape discussion, research,
and proposals. Good!
• No real sustained effort with characteristics
most researchers want/need. Bad!


Help Needed...

This is a start...
Please send links and additional info to add to this in the future:

bsawyer@dmill.com


Gamer Demographics, Stats, Health Stats

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