Free Mobile Gamers are playing games more than those that play on other platforms, according to a study conducted by the NPD Group. The NPD Group looked at all the different type of gamers and the platforms that they use. The main groups studied:
- Core Console
- Family Gamers
- Casual Gamers
- Avid Omni Gamers (NPD Group defined this as “frequent gamers who play with consoles and multiple systems while the PC still is the most preferred device.”)
- Free Mobile Gamers (which dominated NPD Group’s survey)
So what is the growth and what are the implications?
NPD Group’s Survey reported that 29 percent of the gaming population growth in 2013 consisted of “free and mobile gamers.” This was a 2 percent growth since NPD Group’s 2012 survey. The “avid omni gamer” segments apparently had a little bit of an increase, to 16 percent. All the other aforementioned categories decreased or downright plummeted.
So what comes next? What will this do to the price of gaming consoles, gaming equipment, and gaming devices? More and more people are going to the convenience of free mobile app games, not just on the go, but even while they are at home. This study reveals the trend of gamers moving away from expensive and bulky game consoles. These gamers are whipping out their mobile devices and enjoying themselves as a farmer in Farmville or a thug in Gangstar City. Oh and let’s not forget popular games like Kingdoms & Lords and Alien Quarantine.
There is Hope!
Console and Device gamers should not fret. According to CNN,
“…gaming consoles have transformed into entertainment hubs for people to stream movies or YouTube videos. So much, in fact, the gaming consoles no longer are used primarily for gaming. In fact, ‘40% of all Xbox activity now is non-game,’ Microsoft. boasts.”
Netflix and Amazon confirmed this, stating that a lot of their content is streamed from console type devices. So CNN seems to think that console gaming is dying, but really with the introduction of Netflix and streaming social content, consoles are still in demand and probably will be for a long time, even if the game itself is not the first preferred venue.
