Spil Games Technology has just released its 2013 State of Online Gaming report. This report relies on global data from Spil Games’ platforms, as well as information from other industry leaders, including Pew Research Center, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Videology, and others. The result is a comprehensive review of the direction of the gaming industry over the past year and an analysis of how we can expect it to evolve through the next few years.
Oscar Diele, Chief Marketing Officer at Spil Games, points out, “Ultimately, gaming is a huge part of everyone’s online behavior, with games being played by both men and women of all ages. That offers real benefits to brands and advertisers.” But he reminds us that information about the gaming industry is still quite disparate; consequently, there is a very high demand for data and analysis.
Who is playing games? The short answer is — almost everyone. This report tells us there are now over 700 million online gamers around the globe. And, although gaming has traditionally been thought of as a pastime for young men, 46 percent of gamers today are women. Casual gaming is becoming popular with all ages and both genders, but each demographic has different game preferences and rates of growth, all of which Spil Games has investigated and analyzed.
Where are people playing games? With the increasing popularity of browser and app-based gaming and the explosion of mobile devices, significant numbers of people are playing everywhere; at work, while commuting, at home, while watching television, and even while using the toilet. And Spil Games provides the data to show how many people are playing in each of the different situations.
Similarly, the data Spil Games has collected through its platforms indicates just how much gamers are playing. Gaming has now become one of the top online activities, just behind watching videos. It is now higher in popularity than both watching TV and listening to the radio. The gaming audience is enormous and rapidly growing, with the number of gamers expected to exceed 1.2 billion before the end of 2013. And by 2015, Spil Games predicts more than 50.5 percent of the US population will actively play games on mobile devices.
The result of the tremendous growth in online gaming is equally significant opportunities for advertising. People are spending increasing amounts of time online, now averaging 5 hours and 16 minutes online every day. In response, companies are increasing their advertising spend. 75 percent of senior executives in the US now plan to shift their advertising budgets from television to digital video ads. And gaming sites increasingly appear to be the ideal destination for these ads, particularly as 83 percent of gamers are open to advertising in return for free gaming content.
Diele emphasizes. “What’s really important for advertisers is that people playing online games are immersed for long periods of time. Across our 180 million monthly active users, we’re seeing average session times of 30 – 40 minutes, which is more than double the session time on YouTube. This gives brands the perfect platform to reach their target audiences online and across mobile.”
Spil Games Technology latest report is filled with useful data for everyone involved with the gaming industry. And they emphasize that all their findings point to increasing opportunities too good to let slip away.
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