eMarketer projects $443 million will go toward in-game advertising spending this year in the US. But marketers should take note that women make up a substantial portion of the audience for that advertising.
In particular, video game consoles, interactive electronic devices that transmit games to TVs or projectors, aren’t just for the boys anymore.
The “Gamer Segmentation 2009” report, from The NPD Group, found that women will make up 28% of console gamers in 2009, up from 23% last year.
NPD attributes much of the increased participation by women to the popularity of the Nintendo Wii, the fastest-growing console in the US, up 19 percentage points from 2008.
“The console market is waking up to the fact that it’s not just teenage boys who play games,” said Jessica Rovello, president of advergame creator Arkadium. “For that reason, you’re starting to see not only new consoles, like the Wii, but also a greater emphasis on casual games for consoles.”
Although consoles such as the Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have Internet playing capability, most game play (62%) is still offline.
“Even with the increased competition from mobile and social network gaming, the console gamer segment added the most new participants to its ranks in the last year,” said Anita Frazier of The NPD Group.
Many of those new participants are women.
Note: For more information on female gamers, see Women Playing More Games.
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