Heavy video gamers comprise only 2% of all gamers, yet they spent more than eight times on games than the average gamer did in the last quarter of 2006, according to NPD Group's "Gamer Segmentation II" study, conducted in January 2007 among gamers ages 6 to 44.
These heavy gamers owned an average of 2.8 video game consoles, and played an average of 39.3 hours every week.
Yet Anita Frazier of NPD noted, "Heavy gamers have always been a focal segment for the games industry because they're so deeply invested in gaming. The potential for industry growth lies with the other, larger groups, and getting them increasingly involved in gaming over time."
US marketers spent $150 million advertising in casual games in 2006, from $124 million in 2005, according to DFC Intelligence and the Casual Games Association, cited in an Advertising Age article.
A 2006 Associated Press/AOL study conducted by Ipsos of gaming types found that close to a third of US players ranked casual games as their favorite type. Interestingly, game types associated with the stereotypical "core" gamer — like action, sports and shooting titles — ranked lower on the scale.
This market is creating opportunities for a broad range of companies. For instance, Eyeblaster is focused on the casual gaming sector, according to Ran Cohen, its director of emerging media. The company recently entered into a partnership with RealNetworks to stream video ads into downloadable games.
"Within this segment, in the US market alone, we estimate that in 2006 there were more than 700 million downloads of casual games," said Mr. Cohen. "The try-and-buy model, where the game is offered for a one-hour trial, is translating to something equivalent to 800 centuries of entertainment time in front of the user. What I'm saying by that is that the inventory available in this segment is incredible. I don't think there's a limitation on the inventory side. The limitation will be more on the growth of the video advertising side."