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NPD Report: Online Gaming Increasing
According to a report entitled Online Gaming 2013 from industry data analysts The NPD Group, online gaming increased in size last year in terms of both the number of U.S. gamers playing online as well as the time they spent doing so.
The number of self-reporting gamers going online to play games stood at 72 percent of 8,867 individuals surveyed ages 2(?) and up. This is a five-percent increase from 2012.
The report also says that the average number of hours spent gaming online in a week rose six percent among the "majority of devices surveyed." Although the press release (see page two) mentioned PC gamers (the largest segment of those playing online) and mobile (which showed an increase of 12 percent online usage), specific systems weren't mentioned.
Despite this uptick, the NPD report says that 62 percent of those surveyed still preferred to own a physical copy of games when the pricing and availability were the same between the two.
Given the numbers in this report, it's interesting to speculate if Microsoft is looking at the same numbers as there is increased chatter that the company's upcoming new Xbox will require an online connection.
PRESS RELEASE:
PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, May 2, 2013 - According to Online Gaming 2013, the latest report from global information company, The NPD Group, 72 percent of U.S. gamers report gaming online. This represents an increase in incidence of 5 percentage points among gamers from 2012.
Along with the rise in online gaming, there was also an increase in the number of hours spent playing games across the majority of devices surveyed. This led to an overall increase in the average number of hours played per week for gaming overall, up 9 percent, and for gaming online, up 6 percent.
"Besides the size of the gaming audience and sales performance, one of the key metrics for the industry to watch is the time gamers spend playing games," said Liam Callahan, industry analyst, The NPD Group. "This study found that the overall amount of time spent gaming, and time spent gaming online increased across virtually every type of device, and notably so, versus 2012."
Across all platforms measured in the report, the PC ranks as the top platform for online gaming with 68 percent reporting that they use a PC for online gaming. This represents a 4 percentage point decline over last year, and online gaming on mobile devices is quickly catching up. In fact, mobile devices saw a 12 percentage point increase in online gaming since last year.
Acquiring digital content seems like a behavior that would be preferred among online gamers, but when asked about purchasing a game in a physical or digital format where pricing and availability were consistent, 62 percent preferred games in the physical format. This is a 3 percentage point swing in preference towards the digital format when compared to last year.
"While many gamers prefer games in the physical format, the increased availability of digital content paired with a greater amount of connected devices has driven an increase in the number of consumers going online to access the content they want," said Callahan.
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