The topic of my Advanced Digital and Emerging Media class this week will be ‘Gaming and Virtual Worlds’ and while I was doing some research, I found a recent study about ‘social games’ that reveals what is the market of gaming today.
Just to make it clear, ‘social games’ are games designed to be played together with friends, using the infrastructure built by social networks.
The study was conducted by Information Solutions Group for the American casual game developer/publisher, Popcap Games and here are some interesting stats that I would like to share:
· More females play social games (55% vs. 45%).
· Social game players average 43 years in age.
· The majority (41%) of those playing social games work full-time.
· Fun and excitement (53%), stress relief (45%) and competitive spirit (43%) are the top three reasons people play social games.
· 71% play social games on a desktop computer, 50% play on a laptop computer, while 9% play on a mobile phone.
· At 83%, Facebook is the primary social networking site social gamers go to play social games, followed by MySpace (24%) and Bebo (7%).
· Ads promoting games on social networking sites (38%), and word of mouth are the primary ways Internet users hear about new social games.
· A recommendation from a friend, relative or colleague (60%) is the number one factor influencing the selection of social games, followed by the familiarity with the title/played a similar game elsewhere (46%).
· At 51%, PopCap’s Bejeweled Blitz is the most popular game among social gamers, followed by FarmVille (44%) and Mafia Wars at 32%.
As Playfish CEO, Kristian Segerstrale said in a recent interview, social experiences are more compelling than traditional gaming experiences for the vast majority of people. Add to that Facebook’s ability for users to tell their friends what they’re playing, even those who aren’t also playing the game, and the reach of these games becomes unprecedented.
To see the full study, click here.
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