Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- Overview
- The market
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- Figure 1: Video game platforms used most often, June 2014
- Gaming platforms used
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- Figure 2: Platforms used to play video games, June 2014
- Key players
- The consumer
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- Figure 3: Incidence of playing video games on any platform, by gender and age, June 2014
- Gamers’ common frustrations
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- Figure 4: Consumers’ frustrations with gaming, June 2014
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Gamers span a diverse demographic profile
- The issues
- The implications
- The cost of video games and gaming hardware
- The issues
- The implications
- Mobile gaming: Explosive growth with monetization challenges
- The issues
- The implications
Trend Applications
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- Trend: Secret, Secret
- Trend: Click and Connect
- Trend: Make it Mine
Market Drivers
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- Key points
- 71.5 million people watched eSports worldwide in 2013
- Smartphones and tablets boost gaming
- Faster internet speeds to drive online gaming, digital distribution
Leading Companies
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- Key points
- Electronic Arts
- Sony
- Activision/Blizzard
- Microsoft
- Nintendo
- Rovio
- Square Enix
- Sega
- SuperCell
- Valve
Innovations and Innovators
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- The evolution of cloud gaming
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- Figure 5: Titanfall – Frontier’s Edge, August 2014
- Crowdsourcing video game development
- Video games to treat mental-health problems
Marketing Strategies
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- Strategy: Time-sensitive free trials
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- Figure 6: Call of Duty: Ghosts free weekend on Steam, February 2014
- Strategy: Free games as promotions
Social Media
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- Key points
- Market overview
- Key social media metrics
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- Figure 7: Key performance indicators, selected gaming brands, June 2, 2013-August 3, 2014
- Brand usage and awareness
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- Figure 8: Brand usage and awareness of gaming brands, June 2014
- Interaction with brands
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- Figure 9: Interaction with gaming brands, June 2014
- Leading online campaigns
- Social media and console wars
- Social media goodwill
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- Figure 10: Selected Xbox Twitter discussions, November 2013
- Fan voting
- Content marketing through Vine
- Social gaming
- What we think
- Online conversations
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- Figure 11: Selected PlayStation Twitter Mentions, June 2013
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- Figure 12: Online mentions, selected gaming brands, June 2, 2013-August 3, 2014
- Where are people talking about gaming brands?
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- Figure 13: Mentions by page type, selected gaming brands, June 2, 2013-August 3, 2014
- What are people talking about online?
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- Figure 14: Mentions by topic of conversation, selected gaming brands, June 2, 2013-August 3, 2014
Platforms Used to Play Video Games
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- Key points
- Smartphones and tablets lead as primary gaming devices
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- Figure 15: Gaming platforms used most often, by gender and age, June 2014
- The majority of gamers play on more than one platform
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- Figure 16: Gaming platforms also used by gaming platform used most often, June 2014
- Older gamers prefer computer and mobile gaming
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- Figure 17: Video game platforms used, by age, June 2014
Time Spent Playing Video Games
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- Key points
- One fourth of gamers play at least 10 hours per week
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- Figure 18: Time spent playing video games, June 2014
- Men aged 18-34 the most likely to play more than 20 hours weekly
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- Figure 19: Time spent playing video games, by gender and age, June 2014
- Little difference in playing frequency between computer, smartphone, and tablet gamers
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- Figure 20: Time spent playing video games, by preferred gaming platform, June 2014
Video Game Purchasing Habits and Opinions
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- Key points
- Gamers purchase an average of 2.12 games in a year
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- Figure 21: Video games bought, by gender and age, January 2013-March 2014
- One fifth of gamers wait a month to buy new games
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- Figure 22: Consumers' video game purchasing habits, by gender and age, January 2013-March 2014
- Gaming serves as primary entertainment for one fifth of gamers
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- Figure 23: Perceptions regarding video games, by household size, January 2013-March 2014
- Only 6% of players say they usually rent video games
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- Figure 24: Perceptions regarding video games, by household income, January 2013-March 2014
Video Game Genres Played
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- Key points
- Genres played
- Puzzle games represent the most played genre
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- Figure 25: Video game genres played, June 2014
- More than one third of young female gamers play every genre studied
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- Figure 26: Video game genres played – Any genres played, by gender and age, June 2014
- Incidence of playing various genres trends upward with household size
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- Figure 27: Video game genres played – Any genres played, by household size, June 2014
- Interest in video game genres
- A small share of gamers show interest in genres they don’t currently play
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- Figure 28: Interest in video game genres, June 2014
- Significant opportunities in expanding target audiences for multiple genres
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- Figure 29: Interest in gaming genres – I do not currently play this but am interested, by gender and age, June 2014
- Those with household income of $25K-$49.9K are interested in MMOGs
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- Figure 30: Interest in video game genres, by household income, June 2014
Importance of Video Game Features
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- Key points
- The majority of gamers say they want challenging gameplay
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- Figure 31: Any importance of video game features, June 2014
- Gamers from larger households interested in character customization, multiplayer
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- Figure 32: Any importance of video game features, by household size, June 2014
- Console gamers show elevated interest in nearly all video game features
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- Figure 33: Any importance of video game features, by preferred gaming platform, June 2014
Video Game Discovery Habits
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- Key points
- Two thirds of gamers rank free trials as important for video game discovery
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- Figure 34: Video game discovery habits – any important, June 2014
- Console gamers are the most likely to rank nearly all types of information important
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- Figure 35: Video game discovery habits – Any important, by preferred gaming platform, June 2014
- Gamers from lower-income households rely less on digital advertising
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- Figure 36: Video game discovery habits – Any important, by household income, June 2014
- Older gamers use a smaller variety of video game discovery media
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- Figure 37: Video game discovery habits – Any important, by age, June 2014
Perceptions and Motivations Regarding Gaming
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- Key points
- Strong demand for both easy and difficult content
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- Figure 38: Perceptions and motivations regarding video gaming, by gender and age, June 2014
- Lower-income households feel pressure from the price of gaming
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- Figure 39: Perceptions and motivations regarding video gaming, by household income, June 2014
- One third of frequent gamers play to socialize
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- Figure 40: Perceptions and motivations regarding video gaming, by time spent playing video games, June 2014
- Nearly one third of gamers agree gaming is a good way to improve certain skills
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- Figure 41: Perceptions and motivations regarding video gaming, June 2014
- Nearly 40% of smartphone and tablet gamers frustrated by in-app purchases
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- Figure 42: Perceptions and motivations regarding video gaming, by preferred gaming platform, June 2014
Gamers’ Interactions with Video Game Companies and Other Players
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- Key points
- Older consumers most likely to prefer single-player games
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- Figure 43: Interaction with video game companies and other players, by gender and age, June 2014
- Frequent gamers are interested in brand interaction
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- Figure 44: Interaction with video game companies and other players, by time spent playing video games, June 2014
- Gamers from $100K-$149.9K households are interested in eSports
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- Figure 45: Interaction with video game companies and other players, by household income, June 2014
Teens and Video Games
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- Key points
- Action/adventure is the most played genre among teens
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- Figure 46: Video game genres played among teens, November 2012-December 2013
- Girls more likely to play kids/family games, boys more likely to play shooters
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- Figure 47: Video game genres played among teens, by gender and age, November 2012-December 2013
- More than one third of teens receptive to products appearing in video games
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- Figure 48: Teens' perceptions regarding video games, by age, November 2012-December 2013
Qualitative Research
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- Key points
- Favorite experiences with video games
- The cultural impact of video games
- Overall direction of the gaming industry
Race and Hispanic Origin
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- Key points
- Hispanics are more likely to play video games
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- Figure 49: Gaming platforms used most often, by race/Hispanic origin, June 2014
- Hispanics play the largest variety of genres
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- Figure 50: Interest in gaming genres – Any genres played, by race/Hispanic origin, June 2014
- Blacks more interested in challenging gameplay than Whites
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- Figure 78: Very important video game features, by race/Hispanic origin, June 2014
Appendix – Other Useful Consumer Tables
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- Video game systems owned or played
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- Figure 51: Video game systems owned or played, by household income, January 2013-March 2014
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- Figure 52: Video game systems owned or played, by gender and age, January 2013-March 2014
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- Figure 53: Video game systems owned or played, by race/Hispanic origin, January 2013-March 2014
- Gaming platforms used to play video games
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- Figure 54: Gaming platforms used most often, June 2014
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- Figure 55: Gaming platforms used most often, by household income, June 2014
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- Figure 56: Gaming platforms used most often, by household size, June 2014
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- Figure 57: Gaming platforms used most often, by time spent playing video games, June 2014
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- Figure 58: Gaming platforms used most often, by repertoire of gaming platforms used, June 2014
- Platforms used to play video games online
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- Figure 59: Platforms used to play video games online, race/Hispanic origin, January 2013-March 2014
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- Figure 60: Platforms used to play video games online, gender and age, January 2013-March 2014
- Video game genres played and interested in
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- Figure 61: gaming genres played, June 2014
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- Figure 62: Video game genres played – Any genres played, by household income, June 2014
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- Figure 63: Video game genres played – any genres played, by age, June 2014
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- Figure 64: Video game genres played – Any genres played, by preferred gaming platform, June 2014
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- Figure 65: Video game genres played – Any genres played, by time spent playing video games, June 2014
- Time spent playing video games
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- Figure 66: Time spent playing video games, by household income, June 2014
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- Figure 67: Time spent playing video games, by race/Hispanic origin, June 2014
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- Figure 68: Time spent playing video games, by household size, June 2014
- Video game purchasing habits
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- Figure 69: Consumers' video game purchasing habits, by race and Hispanic origin, January 2013-March 2014
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- Figure 70: Consumers' video game purchasing habits, by household income, January 2013-March 2014
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- Figure 71: Consumers' video game purchasing habits, by household size, January 2013-March 2014
- Importance of video game features
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- Figure 72: Importance of video game features, June 2014
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- Figure 73: Any importance of video game features, by household income, June 2014
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- Figure 74: Any importance of video game features, by gender and age, June 2014
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- Figure 75: Very important video game features, by gender and age, June 2014
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- Figure 76: Very important video game features, by household income, June 2014
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- Figure 77: Any importance of video game features, by race/Hispanic origin, June 2014
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- Figure 78: Very important video game features, by household size, June 2014
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- Figure 79: Very important video game features, by preferred gaming platform, June 2014
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- Figure 80: Very important video game features, by time spent playing video games, June 2014
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- Figure 81: Any importance of video game features, by video game genres played – I play this often, June 2014
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- Figure 82: Any importance of video game features, by video game genres played – I play this often, June 2014
- Interaction with video game companies and other players
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- Figure 83: Interaction with video game companies and other players, by race/Hispanic origin, June 2014
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- Figure 84: Interaction with video game companies and other players, by household size, June 2014
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- Figure 85: Interaction with video game companies and other players, by preferred gaming platform, June 2014
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- Figure 86: Interaction with video game companies and other players, by repertoire of gaming platforms used, June 2014
- Video game discovery habits
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- Figure 87: Video game discovery habits, June 2014
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- Figure 88: Video game discovery habits – Any important, by gender and age, June 2014
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- Figure 89: Video game discovery habits – Any important, by race/Hispanic origin, June 2014
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- Figure 90: Video game discovery habits – Any important, by time spent playing video games, June 2014
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- Figure 91: Video game discovery habits – Very important, by gender and age, June 2014
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- Figure 92: Video game discovery habits – Very important, by household income, June 2014
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- Figure 93: Video game discovery habits – Very important, by race/Hispanic origin, June 2014
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- Figure 94: Video game discovery habits – Very important, by household size, June 2014
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- Figure 95: Video game discovery habits – Very important, by time spent playing video games, June 2014
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- Figure 96: Video game discovery habits – Very important, by preferred gaming platform, June 2014
- Perceptions and motivations regarding video gaming
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- Figure 97: Perceptions and motivations regarding video gaming, by race/Hispanic origin, June 2014
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- Figure 98: Perceptions and motivations regarding video gaming, by video game genres played – Any genres played, June 2014
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- Figure 99: Perceptions and motivations regarding video gaming, by video game genres played – Any genres played, June 2014
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- Figure 100: Perceptions regarding video games, by race/Hispanic origin, January 2013-March 2014
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- Figure 101: Perceptions regarding video games, by gender and age, January 2013-March 2014
- Video games and teens
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- Figure 102: Video game systems owned or played among teens, by age, November 2012-December 2013
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- Figure 103: Video game systems owned or played among teens, by race/Hispanic origin, November 2012-December 2013
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- Figure 104: Video game genres played among teens, by age, November 2012-December 2013
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- Figure 105: Video game genres played among teens, by race/Hispanic origin, November 2012-December 2013
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- Figure 106: Video games bought among teens, by age, November 2012-December 2013
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- Figure 107: Incidence of playing games online among teens, by age, November 2012-December 2013
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- Figure 108: Incidence of playing games online among teens, by race/Hispanic origin, November 2012-December 2013
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- Figure 109: Teens' perceptions regarding video games, by race/Hispanic origin, November 2012-December 2013
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- Figure 110: Platforms teens use to play video games online, by age, November 2012-December 2013
Appendix – Social Media
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- Brand analysis
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- Figure 111: Key social media indicators of selected gaming brands, August 2014
- Online conversations
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- Figure 112: Online mentions, selected gaming brands, Social Universe Mentions, June 2, 2013-August 3, 2014
- Brand usage or awareness
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- Figure 113: Brand usage or awareness, June 2014
- Figure 114: Sony PlayStation usage or awareness, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 115: Microsoft Xbox usage or awareness, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 116: Nintendo (Wii, DS) usage or awareness, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 117: Electronic Arts (ie, Madden, The Sims) usage or awareness, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 118: Activision Blizzard (Call of Duty, Warcraft) usage or awareness, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 119: King (Candy Crush Saga, Farm Heroes, Saga) usage or awareness, by demographics, June 2014
- Activities done
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- Figure 120: Activities done, June 2014
- Figure 121: Sony PlayStation – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 122: Sony PlayStation – Activities done – I have contacted/interacted with the brand online on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 123: Sony PlayStation – Activities done – I follow/like the brand on social media because, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 124: Sony PlayStation – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 125: Microsoft Xbox – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 126: Microsoft Xbox – Activities done – I have contacted/interacted with the brand online on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 127: Microsoft Xbox – Activities done – I follow/like the brand on social media because, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 128: Microsoft Xbox – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 129: Nintendo (ie Wii, DS) – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 130: Nintendo (ie, Wii, DS) – Activities done – I have contacted/interacted with the brand online on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 131: Nintendo (ie, Wii, DS) – Activities done – I follow/like the brand on social media because, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 132: Nintendo (ie, Wii, DS) – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 133: Electronic Arts (ie, Madden, The Sims) – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 134: Electronic Arts (ie, Madden, The Sims) – Activities done – I have contacted/interacted with the brand online on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 135: Electronic Arts (ie, Madden, The Sims) – Activities done – I follow/like the brand on social media because, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 136: Electronic Arts (ie, Madden, The Sims) – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 137: Activision Blizzard (ie, Call of Duty, Warcraft) – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 138: Activision Blizzard (ie, Call of Duty, Warcraft) – Activities done – I have contacted/interacted with the brand online on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 139: Activision Blizzard (ie, Call of Duty, Warcraft) – Activities done – I follow/like the brand on social media because, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 140: Activision Blizzard (ie, Call of Duty, Warcraft) – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 141: King (ie, Candy Crush Saga, Farm Heroes, Saga) – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 142: King (ie, Candy Crush Saga, Farm Heroes, Saga) – Activities done – I have contacted/interacted with the brand online on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 143: King (ie, Candy Crush Saga, Farm Heroes, Saga) – Activities done – I follow/like the brand on social media because, by demographics, June 2014
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- Figure 144: King (ie, Candy Crush Saga, Farm Heroes, Saga) – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, June 2014
Appendix – Trade Associations
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