NPD reveals online gaming statistics
- May 07, 2007 00:00 AM PST
The NPD Group plans to release a plethora of statistics relevant to the realm of online gaming, but contrary to what you may think, MMOs don't rule the online gaming world. Read on to find out what genres are really the most popular.
By Eugene Huang
Tomorrow, the NPD Group plans to release Online Gaming 2007: The Virtual Landscape, which is a marketing report containing statistics pertinent to the growing field of online gaming. According to coverage of the report provided by Next-Gen.biz, their research indicates that 62% of all gamers play online games.
"Understanding exactly who is playing what and where is crucial for the industry to realize the potential revenues that online revenues represent for future growth," says Anita Frazier, analyst for the NPD Group.
According to their data, the most popular genre of online games were card, puzzle, arcade, and word games, which represented 44% of the online games available across all platforms. Meanwhile, family oriented games made up 25% of the share while MMO games of all types held only 19%.
"With the intense interest on the success of MMORPG's recently, it might surprise some that the audience for online games is still largely the casual player," Frazier later added.
According to their research, 42% of all online gamers are female, which may account for the high popularity of casual games genres. In addition, the report also reveals that the majority of online gamers fall within the bracket of middle income ($35,000~$75,000) households.
In terms of the most popular gaming consoles, Microsoft's Xbox 360 has solitary control over the top spot, with the highest percentage of use at 54%. However, owners of the Nintendo Wii are the most likely to be online gamers, as 76% of Wii owners surveyed are connected to the internet. The percentage of connectivity for the other two next-gen consoles hovers at around 70%.
Lastly, according to NPD's data, Xbox 360 users spend the most amount of time online, with an average of approximately 7.1 hours per week. The PS3 came in second at 6.1 hours a week, while PC/Mac users spent about 5.8. All other connected consoles amounted to less than four hours a week of online playing time.
