The term “casual gamer” has recently entered the language mainstream as a description of individuals who only game in an informal manner-they play games on their cell phones for a few minutes or log on to a video game site to play a few puzzles or card games. But according to a recent study conducted by Macrovision, these casual gamers may be more hardcore than first suspected. The report revealed that 31% of the casual gamers who frequented their online Trygames site, played two hours each time they were on and averaged an astonishing 9 playing sessions a week for a total of 18 hours of gaming time.
Loren Hillberg, executive VP at Macrovision said, “Our survey has determined that mainstream audiences dedicate a substantial amount of time to gameplay–not just in 15-minute increments as previously thought.” The study further concluded that 37% of casual gamers were in the age group of 35-49 with 28% in the 50-60 age categories. The most surprising statistic showed that an overwhelming 71% of the casual gamers were female.
Puzzle and card games ranked in first and second place as the favorites with strategy and action coming in third and forth positions, respectively. The strong showing of females in the casual gaming category may be a reflection of gender tastes in games. Traditionally, games have been geared towards the male gamer, and with that, an abundance of shooters and other violent fare. Casual games, on the other hand, are geared towards a more general audience and are, for the most part, non-violent.
Game publishers, which have had some rather poor sales figures of late, may want to take note of Macrovision,s study that there are other gamers out there besides males in the 18-24 age group.
