The NPD Group today released a report titled Social Network Gaming, noting that 20 percent of the U.S. population ages 6 and older (56.8 million U.S. consumers) report having played a game on a social network in the past three months. The study also found that 35 percent of social gamers are new to gaming, and that the social gaming population was split – 47 percent male and 53 percent female.
“Although 35 percent of social network gamers are new to gaming, it’s clear that a lot of existing gamers have been drawn into the social network gaming arena as well,” said Anita Frazier, Industry Analyst, The NPD Group. “This impacts both the time they spend with other types of gaming, as well as the amount of money they re spending on gaming. As more players are drawn into these games, the entire games industry is going to feel, and have to adjust to, the impact.”
While most social network games are free-to-play, 10 percent of social network gamers have spent money playing these games and 11 percent indicate that they are likely to make a purchase in the future. Social network games are impacting other areas, as gamers say they have spent 20 percent less on gaming overall since they started playing social network games.
“There are many distinctions between the players who spend money and those that don t,” said Frazier. “While social network gaming has caught on with a mass market audience, it s not without its challenges. Players are frustrated by slow loading and performance issues and report getting bored by the games easily. Clearly, these types of games will have to continue to evolve if they hope to hold their audiences and incentivize them to spend money playing.”
