2008 Sales, Demographic and Usage Data by ESA (Entertainment Software Association)
The average game player age is: 35
Gamer age: 25% under 18 year, 49% 18-49 years, 26% 50+ years
In 2008, 26% of gamers were over the age of 50.
The average age of the most frequent game purchaser is: 40
60% Male 40% Female
WOMEN age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33%) than boys age 17 or younger (18%).
Among most frequent gamers, adult males average 15 years for game playing, females for 12 years.
59% of gamers play games with other gamers in person. This is a rise from 56% in 2007 and from 51% in 2006.
Sales by rating: everyone 45% , E 10+ 12%, T 28%, M 15%
85% of Games are below M rated
94% of the time parents are present at the time games are purchased or rented.
63% of parents believe games are a positive part of their children's lives.
83% of the time children receive their parents' permission before purchasing or renting a game.
Parents report always or sometimes monitoring the games their children play 88% of the time
22% of most frequent game players say they pay to play online games. This is an increase from 19% in 2007 and a marked increase from 8% in 2004.
ALL DATA IN THIS DOCUMENT IS FROM THE ESA'S 2008 CONSUMER SURVEY
*ESA members Atari, Inc. Capcom, Codemasters , Disney Interactive Studios, Eidos, Epic Games, Her Interactive, Inc. Konami , Microsoft Corporation, Midway ,MTV Games ,Namco Bandai,NC Interactive ,Nintendo ,SEGA , Sony Computer Entertainment, Square Enix, Take-Two,THQ, Ubisoft, Warner Bros.
http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2008.pdf
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This data makes it very clear why Nintendo's strategy in actively recruiting, children, older gamers and female gamers could hardly fail and why a strategy aimed exclusively at the "traditional hardcore gamer" will find it very hard to capture a majority of the market. Since this data was gathered specifically for game designers*, it explains why more game's are being designed for the "casual" market and even more will be in the future.
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"And as a brand, Nintendo's got their thing, and we're not trying to get the senior citizen group to get into gaming."
Scott Steinberg, Sony Computer Entertainment America
