NPD: "Extreme Gamers" Are The Industry's Bottom Line

Cygnus · 08-12-2008, 10:45 AM

http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_080811.html
New Study Profiles Seven Gaming Segments by Key Behavioral Metrics, Usage Patterns and Purchasing Preferences

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, August 11, 2008 – Extreme Gamers spend an average of 45 hours a week playing video games and have purchased 24 titles in the past three months, according to Games Segmentation 2008, the most recent report from leading market research company, The NPD Group.

The report provides detailed analysis of seven gamer segments, which are defined by ownership, usage, and frequency. It identifies the video game platforms and genres, as well as retailers that appeal to various gamer segments, helping the industry to better understand video game sales, ownership, and usage patterns within these segments.

Of the 174 million gamers who personally play games on PC/Mac or video game systems, 3 percent are Extreme Gamers, 9 percent are Avid PC Gamers, 17 percent are Console Gamers, 14 percent Online PC Gamers, 15 percent are Offline PC Gamers, 22 percent are Young Heavy Gamers and 20 percent are Secondary Gamers.

With over 38 million gamers, Young Heavy Gamers is the largest and one of the heaviest gaming groups in the U.S. The Extreme and Young Heavy Gamers over-index on every video game system with the Extreme Gamer showing a strong preference for PS3 and 360 and the Young Heavy showing a strong preference for portables.

Given their size and heavy gaming characteristics, Young Heavy Gamers typically make up at least one-third of any system’s owners and tend to gravitate towards portable platforms. For Nintendo DS (NDS) and PlayStation Portable (PSP), six out of every 10 owners are Young Heavy Gamers. Console Gamers is the second largest segment of the owner base of any system, with the exception of the NDS and PSP.

According to the report, while the PC is used more than any single console for gaming, Console Gamers, Young Heavy Gamers, and Extreme Gamers are more likely to use consoles than a PC to play video games.

“Although Extreme Gamers are heavily involved with the industry, they represent a small portion of the potential market for any new game that comes to market,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “In order to promote continued growth, we must better understand all of the gaming segments.”

Ownership, Time and Wallet Share
Among next-generation console owners, PlayStation 3 owners are most likely to own other next-generation consoles compared to Wii and Xbox 360 owners. While 45 percent of PlayStation Portable owners also own a Nintendo DS, only 21 percent of Nintendo DS owners also own a PlayStation Portable. Only 10% of PlayStation 2 owners also own the PlayStation 3.

Both Console Gamers and Extreme Gamers dominate when it comes to the number of hours spent playing video games per week, with an average of 8.2 hours per week and 22.3 hours per week, respectively.

When it comes to purchasing power, Extreme Gamers lead all segments, buying nearly 24 titles across all their systems in the past three months. This is over seven times more than the second leading purchasing segment, Console Gamers, who on average purchased only 3.2 games in the past three months.

The Advent of Digital Purchases
In total, gaming consumers indicated approximately 14 percent of games purchased in the past 3 months were digital downloads. Avid PC Gamers had the highest incidence with 27 percent of their purchases being digital. In terms of content, more than half of Extreme Gamers and just over a third of Avid PC Gamers stated they would definitely download a feature to enhance a specific game that they own.

Methodology
The data was collected from more than 20,000 members of NPD’s online consumer panel, ages two to 65+. Responses for consumers ages two to 12 were captured by instructing a parent to take his or her child in this age range to the computer to answer the questions, either with or without the parent’s assistance. Qualified respondents reported they personally play video games on a PC, on a console or portable system, or on another device such as a mobile phone. The following four key variables were used to create the gamer segments: ownership; usage; frequency; and purchased/received video games. Final survey data was weighted to represent the U.S. population of individuals ages two and older. Fieldwork was conducted from January 11-February 5, 2008.

Note: This study was conducted in January, meaning that questions that refer to consumer behavior in the past three months include the Christmas/Hanukkah holidays.

Games Segmentation 2008 differs from Gamer Segmentation II (May 2007) primarily in the revised sampling methodology and the revised and updated Segment definitions. Gamer Segmentation II used a sample of individuals age 6 to 44. Games Segmentation 2008 uses a sample of individuals 2 to 99. By including all gamers, NPD will be able to continue to use and trend these segments for future waves.

SOBAY310 · 08-12-2008, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cygnus

Extreme Gamers spend an average of 45 hours a week playing video games and have purchased 24 titles in the past three months

Well, I'm no extreme gamer, holy crap! I wonder what percentage of "extreme gamers" are also unemployed and/or living in their parents basement.

GLOW · 08-12-2008, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOBAY310

Well, I'm no extreme gamer, holy crap! I wonder what percentage of "extreme gamers" are also unemployed and/or living in their parents basement.

100% is my guess. Average of 45 hours a week... that's a full time job right there. And 24 games in 3 months... that is almost $1,500.... for 3 MONTHS.... ON VIDEOGAMES. I wonder how much they spend in an entire console generation.

KEEBS1984 · 08-12-2008, 04:57 PM

45 hours a week?!

I'm lucky if I get 4-5 hours a week. Sometimes, if I am really lucky, I'll get an entire Saturday morning to myself, in which case I can spend a 2-3 hours catching up on some vg-time.

railven · 08-12-2008, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOBAY310

Well, I'm no extreme gamer, holy crap! I wonder what percentage of "extreme gamers" are also unemployed and/or living in their parents basement.

I am offended by this!

I guess you can classify me as an "extreme gamer."

In my own defense:
I don't have kids.
I own my condo.
My girlfriend is a gamer (she's gotten back into WoW and me with her)
I PSP/DS on my breaks at work.
I suffer from insomnia.

Haha.

SOBAY310 · 08-12-2008, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by railven

I am offended by this!

I guess you can classify me as an "extreme gamer."

In my own defense:
I don't have kids.
I own my condo.
My girlfriend is a gamer (she's gotten back into WoW and me with her)
I PSP/DS on my breaks at work.
I suffer from insomnia.

Haha.

ssjLancer · 08-12-2008, 07:07 PM

I think I did 45h/week when Starcraft came out.. but over 20 games within 3 months, thats crazy. Including downloaded games Ill probably only play about 7 at most.

railven · 08-12-2008, 09:52 PM

I try to work at least 5-6hrs extra week (OT) to support my habit. I don't dip into bills/savings for games. So if I don't get the OT I don't get a new game(s) that week.

Currently on my platter:
PSP - FFTactics (again)
DS - FFTA2 (I swore I wouldn't get this, FFT is still mountains better)
PS3 - cricket...cricket...Rockband/1942 here and there
Xbox360 - cricket...cricket...few laps of Forza 2 or a MP match of Halo 3 (I need to get Braid)
PC - Mass Effect/CoD4/World of Warcraft/Condemned (hehe still a classic)/Diablo II (with 3 announced I find myself getting sucked back in)
Wii - cricket...cricket...actually trying to finish Twilight Princess (this is my insomnia game.)

I already got my next games lined up, depending on how my sleeping schedule is for the week. With my living room all finished up I can play my consoles again, but looking at my library I have nothing.

Getting Soul Calibur 4 and probably Madden this week. With Dark Sector/Strangehold on sale used at Gamestop, might use my Edge+Coupon to get them for 26% off.

Pinoy · 08-13-2008, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KEEBS1984

45 hours a week?!

I'm lucky if I get 4-5 hours a week. Sometimes, if I am really lucky, I'll get an entire Saturday morning to myself, in which case I can spend a 2-3 hours catching up on some vg-time.

Pffft... I'm lucky if I get that many hours of sleep in a week

GLOW · 08-13-2008, 09:53 AM

I suppose I could get 45 hours of gaming in every week if I wanted to but it would take ALOT of sacrifice, sleep deprivation, and pissing people off. When Resistance 2 and LittleBIGPlanet are out I know I'll be spending plenty of time on my living room couch playing PS3, but lately I've been using my PS3 just for Blu-ray. It's scary to admit but the Wii is my main console right now.

That's mostly due to Wii Fit, though. I didn't even think about factoring my DS into the equation when thinking about how many hours of gaming I put in every week- I play Sudoku or Brain Age every weekday on the train, that alone is 5 hours a week. Add to that Wii Fit which I try to do every day, probably 3 hours a week. So that's 8 hours a week not including No More Heroes, which is pretty much the only "real game" I've been playing lately. I'd say I get about 10 hours of gaming in a week right now. Hopefully that will change in November and I can become an ***EXTREME GAMER***.

ping.brady · 08-13-2008, 10:26 AM

I range from 2~8 hours now on PS3 only (havn't touched the Wii in 6 months or so)

Back in the day when I was PC gaming, I could easily get in 20~30 hours

II SAL II · 08-13-2008, 10:27 AM

i play every night for about 3 hours from 10:00pm to 1:00am (thats when my kids go to sleep) and on the weekend i play from 10:00pm to 3:00am. so i play about 30 hours a week, im 35 years old with 3, 1 year old kids and i work 40+ hours a week. so i can see these numbers being do-able even for someone at my OLD age

im sure alot of the time is also used for handheld which is something i have never played.

MikeRox · 08-13-2008, 11:20 AM

I fluctuate, I don't tend to play games on a week night though, as I've been feeling like crap lately. At weekends I can get as much as 20 hours gaming in though, while other weekends I won't even boot a console up. Depends what mood I'm in, how into a game I am, and what else I've got planned.

oleviarules · 08-13-2008, 02:46 PM

during school i would usually do about 3-4 hrs a day, mostly CoD4/Halo with friends. however, since summer, my gaming has actually gone down a lot, mostly because i'm back at home and go out with friends in town and the girlfriend. now, i would say i'm averaging 1.5 hrs/day. so, my gaming time has decreased significantly with the coming of summer, and will likely stay that way until at least Christmas time as i'll be commuting to school, working, and most of all studying for the CFA exam. looks like my gaming will go down even more. that sucks

sufs · 08-13-2008, 04:31 PM

I barley get 7 hours a week unless a game strikes ma fancy and then that could easily triple

. Actually I do get another 7 hours a week of gaming playing Tetris on my GBA, I play whenever I'm watching TV.

Recently though I got a LIVE subscription and have been playing 6-7 hours a night of Halo/COD4 all in one sit most days until 8-9 am

. I took some summer courses and have 20 days off until I start a summer internship program, so trying to get some late night gaming sessions before I start sleeping by midnight again.

08-12-2008, 10:45 AM	#1
Cygnus The Bringer of Balance Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 11,350	NPD: "Extreme Gamers" Are The Industry's Bottom Line http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_080811.html New Study Profiles Seven Gaming Segments by Key Behavioral Metrics, Usage Patterns and Purchasing Preferences PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, August 11, 2008 – Extreme Gamers spend an average of 45 hours a week playing video games and have purchased 24 titles in the past three months, according to Games Segmentation 2008, the most recent report from leading market research company, The NPD Group. The report provides detailed analysis of seven gamer segments, which are defined by ownership, usage, and frequency. It identifies the video game platforms and genres, as well as retailers that appeal to various gamer segments, helping the industry to better understand video game sales, ownership, and usage patterns within these segments. Of the 174 million gamers who personally play games on PC/Mac or video game systems, 3 percent are Extreme Gamers, 9 percent are Avid PC Gamers, 17 percent are Console Gamers, 14 percent Online PC Gamers, 15 percent are Offline PC Gamers, 22 percent are Young Heavy Gamers and 20 percent are Secondary Gamers. With over 38 million gamers, Young Heavy Gamers is the largest and one of the heaviest gaming groups in the U.S. The Extreme and Young Heavy Gamers over-index on every video game system with the Extreme Gamer showing a strong preference for PS3 and 360 and the Young Heavy showing a strong preference for portables. Given their size and heavy gaming characteristics, Young Heavy Gamers typically make up at least one-third of any system’s owners and tend to gravitate towards portable platforms. For Nintendo DS (NDS) and PlayStation Portable (PSP), six out of every 10 owners are Young Heavy Gamers. Console Gamers is the second largest segment of the owner base of any system, with the exception of the NDS and PSP. According to the report, while the PC is used more than any single console for gaming, Console Gamers, Young Heavy Gamers, and Extreme Gamers are more likely to use consoles than a PC to play video games. “Although Extreme Gamers are heavily involved with the industry, they represent a small portion of the potential market for any new game that comes to market,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “In order to promote continued growth, we must better understand all of the gaming segments.” Ownership, Time and Wallet Share Among next-generation console owners, PlayStation 3 owners are most likely to own other next-generation consoles compared to Wii and Xbox 360 owners. While 45 percent of PlayStation Portable owners also own a Nintendo DS, only 21 percent of Nintendo DS owners also own a PlayStation Portable. Only 10% of PlayStation 2 owners also own the PlayStation 3. Both Console Gamers and Extreme Gamers dominate when it comes to the number of hours spent playing video games per week, with an average of 8.2 hours per week and 22.3 hours per week, respectively. When it comes to purchasing power, Extreme Gamers lead all segments, buying nearly 24 titles across all their systems in the past three months. This is over seven times more than the second leading purchasing segment, Console Gamers, who on average purchased only 3.2 games in the past three months. The Advent of Digital Purchases In total, gaming consumers indicated approximately 14 percent of games purchased in the past 3 months were digital downloads. Avid PC Gamers had the highest incidence with 27 percent of their purchases being digital. In terms of content, more than half of Extreme Gamers and just over a third of Avid PC Gamers stated they would definitely download a feature to enhance a specific game that they own. Methodology The data was collected from more than 20,000 members of NPD’s online consumer panel, ages two to 65+. Responses for consumers ages two to 12 were captured by instructing a parent to take his or her child in this age range to the computer to answer the questions, either with or without the parent’s assistance. Qualified respondents reported they personally play video games on a PC, on a console or portable system, or on another device such as a mobile phone. The following four key variables were used to create the gamer segments: ownership; usage; frequency; and purchased/received video games. Final survey data was weighted to represent the U.S. population of individuals ages two and older. Fieldwork was conducted from January 11-February 5, 2008. Note: This study was conducted in January, meaning that questions that refer to consumer behavior in the past three months include the Christmas/Hanukkah holidays. Games Segmentation 2008 differs from Gamer Segmentation II (May 2007) primarily in the revised sampling methodology and the revised and updated Segment definitions. Gamer Segmentation II used a sample of individuals age 6 to 44. Games Segmentation 2008 uses a sample of individuals 2 to 99. By including all gamers, NPD will be able to continue to use and trend these segments for future waves. __________________ Panasonic P55 ST30 Kenwood VR-616 Comcast DCT6412 III XBox 360 GamerTag Sec0nd2N0n3

08-13-2008, 10:26 AM	#11
ping.brady Ignorance Expert Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 157	I range from 2~8 hours now on PS3 only (havn't touched the Wii in 6 months or so) Back in the day when I was PC gaming, I could easily get in 20~30 hours __________________ Panasonic TH50PZ77U / VIP722 / PS3 (120GB) / Wii / Toshiba A3 / Onkyo 605 / In-wall surround speakers / Sony Sub

08-13-2008, 11:20 AM	#13
MikeRox Connoisseur of Fine Games Join Date: May 2007 Location: Huddersfield, United Kingdom Posts: 15,756	I fluctuate, I don't tend to play games on a week night though, as I've been feeling like crap lately. At weekends I can get as much as 20 hours gaming in though, while other weekends I won't even boot a console up. Depends what mood I'm in, how into a game I am, and what else I've got planned. __________________ Currently Playing: Xenoblade Chronicles, Ridge Racer 3D, DIRT 3

08-13-2008, 02:46 PM	#14
oleviarules High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 655	during school i would usually do about 3-4 hrs a day, mostly CoD4/Halo with friends. however, since summer, my gaming has actually gone down a lot, mostly because i'm back at home and go out with friends in town and the girlfriend. now, i would say i'm averaging 1.5 hrs/day. so, my gaming time has decreased significantly with the coming of summer, and will likely stay that way until at least Christmas time as i'll be commuting to school, working, and most of all studying for the CFA exam. looks like my gaming will go down even more. that sucks __________________ Olevia LT26HVX 26" LCD TV Xbox 360 Premium HD DVD add on Logitech Z-5500 5.1 surround Gamecube Currently Playing: Call of Duty 4, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (for the 5th time?). OoT ROM + PJ64 + 360 wired controller + Laptop hooked up to tv/speakers = awesome

08-13-2008, 04:31 PM	#15
sufs Generation HD Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Lebanon Posts: 1,129	I barley get 7 hours a week unless a game strikes ma fancy and then that could easily triple . Actually I do get another 7 hours a week of gaming playing Tetris on my GBA, I play whenever I'm watching TV. Recently though I got a LIVE subscription and have been playing 6-7 hours a night of Halo/COD4 all in one sit most days until 8-9 am. I took some summer courses and have 20 days off until I start a summer internship program, so trying to get some late night gaming sessions before I start sleeping by midnight again. __________________ Equipment: Samsung 40" R71B LCD Denon AVR 3808CI Toshiba XA-2 PS3/Wii/ 360 withHD DVD add on Harmony 880 UR Sony Vaio FW21E Speakers JBL Northridge series E 100 Floorstanding 3 Way dual 10" E 90 Floorstanding 3 Way dual 8" E C35 3 Way dual 5.25" E 250P 12" front Firing HD Movies: 350 PSN/Gamer card:Sufs

08-12-2008, 04:57 PM	#4
KEEBS1984 FIFA 10 > PES 2010 Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: PORTLAND!!!... OR Posts: 2,658	45 hours a week?! I'm lucky if I get 4-5 hours a week. Sometimes, if I am really lucky, I'll get an entire Saturday morning to myself, in which case I can spend a 2-3 hours catching up on some vg-time.

08-12-2008, 07:07 PM	#7
ssjLancer High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,968	I think I did 45h/week when Starcraft came out.. but over 20 games within 3 months, thats crazy. Including downloaded games Ill probably only play about 7 at most.

08-12-2008, 09:52 PM	#8
railven PLS C SIG: Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 11,503	I try to work at least 5-6hrs extra week (OT) to support my habit. I don't dip into bills/savings for games. So if I don't get the OT I don't get a new game(s) that week. Currently on my platter: PSP - FFTactics (again) DS - FFTA2 (I swore I wouldn't get this, FFT is still mountains better) PS3 - cricket...cricket...Rockband/1942 here and there Xbox360 - cricket...cricket...few laps of Forza 2 or a MP match of Halo 3 (I need to get Braid) PC - Mass Effect/CoD4/World of Warcraft/Condemned (hehe still a classic)/Diablo II (with 3 announced I find myself getting sucked back in) Wii - cricket...cricket...actually trying to finish Twilight Princess (this is my insomnia game.) I already got my next games lined up, depending on how my sleeping schedule is for the week. With my living room all finished up I can play my consoles again, but looking at my library I have nothing. Getting Soul Calibur 4 and probably Madden this week. With Dark Sector/Strangehold on sale used at Gamestop, might use my Edge+Coupon to get them for 26% off.

08-13-2008, 09:53 AM	#10
GLOW High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Post-Empire America Posts: 10,015	I suppose I could get 45 hours of gaming in every week if I wanted to but it would take ALOT of sacrifice, sleep deprivation, and pissing people off. When Resistance 2 and LittleBIGPlanet are out I know I'll be spending plenty of time on my living room couch playing PS3, but lately I've been using my PS3 just for Blu-ray. It's scary to admit but the Wii is my main console right now. That's mostly due to Wii Fit, though. I didn't even think about factoring my DS into the equation when thinking about how many hours of gaming I put in every week- I play Sudoku or Brain Age every weekday on the train, that alone is 5 hours a week. Add to that Wii Fit which I try to do every day, probably 3 hours a week. So that's 8 hours a week not including No More Heroes, which is pretty much the only "real game" I've been playing lately. I'd say I get about 10 hours of gaming in a week right now. Hopefully that will change in November and I can become an *EXTREME GAMER*.

08-13-2008, 10:27 AM	#12
II SAL II PSN is POO Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Richmond, Va Age: 39 Posts: 3,538	i play every night for about 3 hours from 10:00pm to 1:00am (thats when my kids go to sleep) and on the weekend i play from 10:00pm to 3:00am. so i play about 30 hours a week, im 35 years old with 3, 1 year old kids and i work 40+ hours a week. so i can see these numbers being do-able even for someone at my OLD age im sure alot of the time is also used for handheld which is something i have never played.

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