Table of Contents
Scope and Themes
-
- What you need to know
- Definition
- Data sources
- Consumer survey data
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
Executive Summary
-
- Key themes and findings
- Video game sales are hot despite troubles in PC gaming
- Industry is highly competitive, innovation driven
- Wal-Mart, Game Stop are the preferred retailers
- A handful of companies dominate video game sales
- PR, and community based marketing and promotion
- Highlights from the consumer research
Insights and Opportunities
-
- Exergaming
- Feigning a skill set
- Lower-priced games
-
- Figure 1: Attitudes to cost of purchasing games, by gender, May 2008
- Alternatives to one-time purchase business models
- Addressing mobile gaming barriers
- Alternative RPGs and in-game shopping
-
- Figure 2: Interest in more role playing games, indefinite games, and shopping through games console, by gender, May 2008
- The answer to the iPhone
- GPS-based gaming
- Owning fewer physical objects means more online distribution
Fast Forward Trends
-
- Sense of the intense
- Maximum 2D with video goggles
- Putting theaters to a new (and better?) use
-
- Figure 3: Interest in playing games in a large group, by gender, May 2008
- Break out the 3D glasses
-
- Figure 4: Interest in 3D games, by gender, May 2008
- Tactile sensation
-
- Figure 5: Interest in a specialty game chair, by gender, May 2008
- The sixth sense—the power of the narrative
- User-generated marketing
- Consumers as game developers
- Gaming as courtship
Market Size and Forecast
-
- Key points
- Console games are expensive, inspiring new business models
- U.S. sales
-
- Figure 6: Total U.S. sales and forecast of video games at current prices, 2002-12
- Figure 7: Total U.S. sales and forecast of video games, at inflation adjusted prices, 2002-12
Competitive Context
-
- Game software revenue surpasses music and movies and is growing faster
-
- Figure 8: U.S. sales of video games, music & movies, 2005 and 2007
- Competition from gaming and non-gaming leisure pursuits
-
- Figure 9: Favorite leisure activities, by gender, March 2007
-
- Figure 10: Favorite leisure activities of male adults and teens, March 2007
- Figure 11: Favorite leisure activities of female adults and teens, March 2007
- Competition for share of spending
-
- Figure 12: Products teens spend allowance on, by gender, 2005 and 2007
- Free PC gaming
-
- Figure 13: Gaming platforms used, and types of game played, by age, May 2008
Segment Performance
-
- Key points
- Game segments complementary, yet new consoles steal focus
- Online and wireless options broader and more prevalent
- Free gaming business models help curtail PC gaming growth
- Segment growth and change in share 2005-07
- Video games sales, by segment
-
- Figure 14: U.S. sales and forecast sales of video games, at current prices, by segment, 2002-12
- Figure 15: U.S. sales of video games, share and growth by segment, 2006 and 2008
Segment Performance—Console Games
-
- Key points
- Console game sales are cyclical and hit driven
- Handheld games sales are strong
- Console game sales
-
- Figure 16: U.S. sales and forecast sales of console and handheld games, 2002-12
- Figure 17: U.S. unit sales of console and handheld games, share and growth by segment, 2005 and 2007
Segment Performance—PC Games
-
- Key points
- PC gamers have alternatives to packaged software
- PC game sales
-
- Figure 18: U.S. sales and forecast sales of PC games, 2002-12
Segment Performance—Online Games
-
- Key points
- Online capabilities
-
- Figure 19: Internet service, and presence of a personal computer, 2003-07
- Many different business models
- A star is born
- Online game sales
-
- Figure 20: U.S. sales and forecast sales of online games, 2002-12
Segment Performance—Mobile Phone Games
-
- Key points
- Growth is substantial, but barriers loom
- One in four teens and one in six adults plays mobile games
- Wireless game sales and subscribers
-
- Figure 21: U.S. sales and forecast sales of wireless games, 2002-12
- Figure 22: U.S. wireless game subscribers, 2002-12
Retail Channels
-
- Key points
- Video game buyers shop in person
- Potential of downloadable games has not yet been reached
- Online downloading for casual games more established
-
- Figure 23: Purchase methods for buying video games, May 2008
Market Drivers
-
- New consoles drive sales
-
- Figure 24: U.S. sales of video game consoles and software (excluding handhelds), 2005-07
- Franchises keep delivering
-
- Figure 25: Selected worldwide best selling console games, by franchise and generation
- Holiday sales
-
- Figure 26: U.S. console (including handheld) software sales in 2007, by month
- WOM central to sales
-
- Figure 27: Information sources for games, by gender, May 2008
-
- Figure 28: Social gaming, by gender, May 2008
- Used games/rentals
- Community-based outlets promote interest
-
- Figure 29: Attitudes to game marketing, by gender, May 2008
-
- Figure 30: Impact of marketing/branding and association with game tournaments, May 2008
- Figure 31: Impact of marketing/branding and association with game tournaments, by presence of children, May 2008
- Free gaming as a driver for future sales
-
- Figure 32: Gaming platforms used, and types of game played, by age, May 2008
- Battle of the bulge and fitness
Leading Companies
-
- Overview
- Online gaming
- Console gaming—exclusive platform vs. cross-platform
- A few companies account for the majority of revenues/unit sales
- Mergers
- Unit sales by company for console and handheld games
-
- Figure 33: Sales of console games (including handheld games) by publisher, 2006 and 2007
- Figure 34: Leading U.S. console titles for Wii, XBox 360 and PS3 by publisher/title (totals), to date, June 2008
- Handheld games
-
- Figure 35: Leading (selected) U.S. handheld titles for DS, PSP and GBA, by publisher/title (totals), to date, June 2008
- PC games
- Online gaming
- Leading MMOGs
-
- Figure 36: Leading MMOGs Worldwide, by number of subscribers and by publisher/title, 2007/08
- Casual games
- Wireless games
-
- Figure 37: Verizon Wireless top mobile games introduced in 2007
Brand Qualities
-
- Nintendo
- Electronic Arts (EA)
- Activision
- Microsoft
- Blizzard Entertainment
Innovation and Innovators
-
- Nintendo
- Electronic Arts
- Activision/Guitar Hero III
- Sony/Konami
- Jagex/Runescape
- Casual games sector
Advertising and Promotion
-
- Overview
- Advertising themes
- Ads with game clips predominate
-
- Figure 38: Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures television ad, 2008
-
- Figure 39: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core television ad, 2008
- Figure 40: The Sims 2 Expansion Pack television ad, 2008
- Some ads are akin to movie trailers
-
- Figure 41: Grand Theft Auto 4 television ad, 2008
- Figure 42: Metal Gear Solid 4 television ad, 2008
-
- Figure 43: Call of Duty 4 television ad, 2008
- Humor and dramatizations help convey the gaming experience
-
- Figure 44: Battlefield: Bad Company television ad, 2008
-
- Figure 45: World of warcraft television ad, 2007
- Figure 46: Madden NFL ’08 television ad, 2007
-
- Figure 47: Guitar hero television ad, 2008
- Wii promotes its controller
-
- Figure 48: Big brain academy Wii degree television ad, 2007
-
- Figure 49: Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix Wii television ad, 2007
- Figure 50: MarioKart Wii television ad, 2008
-
- Figure 51: Nintendo Brain age 2 television ad, 2007
Usage
-
- Four in ten adults play, only two in ten buy
- Playing
-
- Figure 52: Adults and teens who own or play video games, key demographics, January-November 2007
- Nearly all teen boys play video games
-
- Figure 53: Teens who play video games, key demographics, May 2006-June 2007
- Buying
-
- Figure 54: Incidence of adults purchasing video games, by age, January-November 2007
-
- Figure 55: Incidence of adults purchasing video games, by presence of children, January-November 2007
- Buying for others
- Kids drive sales
- Women’s gaming nights
-
- Figure 56: Last video game purchase bought for whom, by gender, January-November 2007
- 18-24s most likely to buy for themselves
-
- Figure 57: Last video game purchase bought for whom, by age, January-November 2007
- Incidence of buying for children holds, even for households without children
-
- Figure 58: Last video game purchase bought for whom, by presence of children, January-November 2007
Genre Preferences
-
- Genre preference vary dramatically by gender and age
-
- Figure 59: Type of games played, by gender, January-November 2007
-
- Figure 60: Type of games played, by age, January-November 2007
- Teen girls keen on arcade/classic, racing, strategy, and puzzle games
-
- Figure 61: Type of games played by teens, by gender and age, May 2006-June 2007
Volume and Value of Purchasing
-
- Adults buy twice as many games as they rent
-
- Figure 62: Number of games per capita bought or rented, adults by gender, January-November 2007
- Grandpa and me gaming nights
-
- Figure 63: Number of games per capita bought or rented, teens and adults by age, January-November 2007
- Boys 12-14 buy and rent more than any other age group,
-
- Figure 64: Number of games per capita bought or rented, teens by gender and age, May 2006-June 2007
Spending on video games
-
- One in five adults bought a game in the past 12 months
-
- Figure 65: Per capita spending on video games, by gender, January-November 2007
- 25-44s spend the most
-
- Figure 66: Per capita spending on video games, by age, January-November 2007
Usage Among Children
-
- Boys are a committed customer group; girls may be underserved
-
- Figure 67: Video games in relation to other entertainment, children by age and gender, January-November 2007
- Boy and girl players play online games at about equal frequency
-
- Figure 68: Frequency of online gaming by kids, by age and gender, January-November 2007
- Boys spend their allowance on games
-
- Figure 69: Choices for allowance spending by kids, by age and gender, January-November 2007
Teens and Video Games
-
- Teen boys buy/receive twice as many games as teen girls
-
- Figure 70: Average number of games bought and received by teens, by gender, April 2008
- Teen boys spend 12 hours per week gaming
-
- Figure 71: Average hours spent playing video games per week, teens by gender, April 2008
- Teen platforms played
-
- Figure 72: Game platforms owned or played by teens, by gender, May 2006-June 2007
- Interests differ by gender
-
- Figure 73: Gaming platforms used, and types of game played, teens by gender, April 2008
Marketing to Teens
-
- Teen boys give WOM a voice
-
- Figure 74: Teen attitudes toward new games and info sources about new games, by gender, April 2008
-
- Figure 75: Teen attitudes toward new games and info sources about new games, by age, April 2008
- Teens keen on variety
-
- Figure 76: Teen attitudes to games, by gender, April 2008
Attitudes Among Adults
-
- Half of men the primary gamer in the household
-
- Figure 77: Adults’ attitudes toward video games, by gender, May 2008
- Fun for the whole family
-
- Figure 78: Parenting and gaming, by gender, May 2008
Encouraging Non-gamers to join the Fun
-
-
- Figure 79: What would motivate non-players to play video games, by age, May 2008
-
- Figure 80: What would motivate non-players to play video games, by household income, May 2008
-
Interest in ‘Exergaming’
-
-
- Figure 81: Interest in ‘exergaming’, by gender, May 2008
-
Race and Ethnicity
-
- Key points
- Usage
-
- Figure 82: Participation in video gaming, by race/ethnicity, January-November 2007
-
- Figure 83: Gaming platforms used, and types of game played, by race/ethnicity, May 2008
-
- Figure 84: Game related activities, by race/ethnicity, May 2008
-
- Figure 85: Game platforms owned or played, by race/ethnicity, January-November 2007
- Genre preference
-
- Figure 86: Type of games played, by gender, January-November 2007
- Buying and renting games
-
- Figure 87: Number of games bought or rented per capita, by race/ethnicity, January-November 2007
- Spending
-
- Figure 88: Spending on video games, by race/ethnicity, January-November 2007
- Kids
-
- Figure 89: Frequency of online gaming by kids, by race/ethnicity, January-November 2007
-
- Figure 90: Choices for allowance spending by kids, by race/ethnicity, January-November 2007
- Information sources
-
- Figure 91: Information sources for games, by race/ethnicity, May 2008
- Attitudes and motivations
-
- Figure 92: Attitudes to new games, by race/ethnicity, May 2008
- Converting the non-gamer
-
- Figure 93: What would motivate non-players to play video games, by race/ethnicity, May 2008
- Interest in ‘exergaming’
-
- Figure 94: Interest in ‘exergaming’, by race/ethncity, May 2008
Custom Consumer Groups
-
- Introduction
- Retail preferences
-
- Figure 95: Purchase methods for buying video games, by custom consumer groups, May 2008
- Main way to purchase a game
-
- Figure 96: Purchase methods for buying video games (main way), by custom consumer groups, May 2008
- Favorite way to purchase games
-
- Figure 97: Purchase methods for buying video games (Favorite way), by custom consumer groups, May 2008
- Information sources
-
- Figure 98: Information sources for games, by custom consumer groups, May 2008
- Attitudes toward price and advertising/marketing
-
- Figure 99: Attitudes to new games, by race/ethnicity, by custom consumer groups, May 2008
- Marketing opportunities
-
- Figure 100: Impact of marketing/branding and association with game tournaments, by custom consumer groups, May 2008
- Future gaming interests
-
- Figure 101: Future gaming interest, by custom consumer groups, May 2008
- Additional attitudes/preferences
-
- Figure 102: Adults’ attitudes toward video games, by custom consumer groups, May 2008
Cluster Analysis—Casual Gamers, Middle Gamers, Hardcore Gamers
-
- Key points
- Casual Gamers
- Middle Gamers
- Hardcore Gamers
- Cluster characteristics
-
- Figure 103: Video games clusters, May 2008
- Figure 104: Finding of new games, by clusters, May 2008
- Figure 105: Attitudes towards new games, by clusters, May 2008
-
- Figure 106: Future behavior regarding video games or video game consoles, by clusters, May 2008
- Figure 107: Beliefs and habits about video games, by clusters, May 2008
-
- Figure 108: Types of exercise games in “exergaming”, by clusters, May 2008
- Figure 109: Ways of playing games in the past month, by clusters, May 2008
- Cluster demographics
-
- Figure 110: Video games clusters, by gender, May 2008
- Figure 111: Video games clusters, by age, May 2008
- Figure 112: Video games clusters, by household income, May 2008
-
- Figure 113: Video games clusters, by race, May 2008
- Figure 114: Video games clusters, by Hispanic origin, May 2008
- Methodology
Appendix: Type of Games Played
-
-
- Figure 115: Gaming platforms used, and types of game played, by gender, May 2008
-
- Figure 116: Gaming platforms used, and types of game played, by household income, May 2008
-
- Figure 117: Gaming platforms used, and types of game played, by presence of children, May 2008
- Interest in ‘exergaming’
-
- Figure 118: Interest in ‘exergaming’ by household income, May 2008
-
- Figure 119: Interest in ‘exergaming’ by presence of children, May 2008
-
Appendix: When Games are Purchased
-
- Key points
-
- Figure 120: When do you buy a new game, January-November 2007
-
- Figure 121: When do you buy a new game, adults and teens by age, January-November 2007
- When teens purchase games
-
- Figure 122: When do you buy a new game, by teen age and gender, May 2006-June 2007
- Buy/acquire/rent
-
- Figure 123: Gaming bought/acquired/rented by platform, May 2008
Appendix: Additional Teen Consumer Tables
-
- Usage
-
- Figure 124: Game platforms owned or played by teens, by age & gender, May 2006-June 2007
- Teens—Hours spent playing video games by platform
-
- Figure 125: Hours spent playing video games by teens, by type and gender, May 2006-June 2007
-
- Figure 126: Hours spent playing video games by type, by age and gender, May 2006-June 2007
- Games played online
-
- Figure 127: Usage of video games played on the internet by teens, by age and gender, May 2006-June 2007
- Teen leisure activities
-
- Figure 128: Leisure activities of teens, by age and gender, January-November 2007
- Teen attitudes and information sources for new games
-
- Figure 129: Attitudes and information sources for new games, by age, April 2008
Appendix: Genre Preferences Among Adults
-
- Genre preferences—adults
-
- Figure 130: Type of games played, by gender, January-November 2007
- Figure 131: Type of games played, by gender, January-November 2007
Appendix: Timing for Buying a New Video Game
-
-
- Figure 132: When do you buy a new game, by household income, January-November 2007
- Figure 133: When do you buy a new game, by presence of children, January-November 2007
-
Appendix: Average Spend of Households with Children
-
-
- Figure 134: Spending on video games, by presence of children, January-November 2007
-
Appendix: Video Games Compared to Other Forms of Entertainment for Kids, by Race/Ethnicity
-
-
- Figure 135: Kids attitudes to video games, and in relation to other entertainment, by race/ethnicity, January-November 2007
-
Appendix: Adult Incidence and Frequency of Usage by Platform
-
-
- Figure 136: Average times game played by adults, by platform and gender, January-November 2007
- Usage of video games by platform
-
- Figure 137: Own or play, by platform by gender, January-November 2007
- Figure 138: Own or play, by platform, by age, January-November 2007
-
- Figure 139: Own or play, by platfom, by race/ethnicity, January-November 2007
-
- Figure 140: Own or play, by platform, by household income, January-November 2007
- Figure 141: Own or play, by platform, by presence of children, January-November 2007
-
Appendix: Future Video Gaming Interests
-
-
- Figure 142: Future gaming interest, by race/ethnicity, May 2008
-
- Figure 143: Future gaming interest, by household income, May 2008
-
Appendix: Personal Consumption versus Buying for Others
-
-
- Figure 144: Games bought/acquired/rented/gifts, by gender, May 2008
-
- Figure 145: Games bought/acquired/rented/gifts, by age, May 2008
-
- Figure 146: Games bought/acquired/rented/gifts, by household income, May 2008
-
- Figure 147: Games bought/acquired/rented/gifts, by presence of children, May 2008
-
- Figure 148: Games bought/acquired/rented/gifts, by race/ethnicity, May 2008
-
Appendix: Sources of Information by Presence of Children
-
-
- Figure 149: Information sources for games, by presence of children, May 2008
-
Appendix: Time of Purchase, by Race/Ethnicity
-
-
- Figure 150: When do you buy a new game, by race/ethnicity, January-November 2007
-
Appendix: Trade Associations
Back to top