The videogame industry is booming. According to the latest report from NPD Group, over half of the population of the United States — 169.9 million out of 304 million, or just under 56% — is now comprised of gamers. That’s a 4.3 million-player increase since last year.
The 2009 Gamer Segmentation Report breaks down the US gamer population into seven categories, the largest of which is the "Secondary Gamers" category, totaling 33.6 million. These are individuals (mostly female, according to the study) who play less than four hours per week and do not own a console. "Console Gamers" (mostly male this time), who own at least one game system and play roughly 12 hours per week come in a close second at 32.9 million.
Other groups named in the report include "Heavy Portable Gamers" (30 million), "Online PC Gamers" (25.9 million), "Offline PC Gamers" (24.1 million), and "Avid PC Gamers" (17.3 million). The smallest segment, "Extreme Gamers," spend nearly 40 hours per week playing videogames.
All numbers in the report have been estimated from a January 2009 sampling of over 21,000 people. The report is available at the NPD Group website.
[GameSpot]
