The popularity of social network games notwithstanding, the proportion of video game users playing online has remained fairly constant, according to research from The NPD Group.
Slightly more than one-half of all gamers play on the Web, but the time they spend doing so has gone up in the past year by 10%.
“While the percentage of the population that reports playing games has declined slightly, this study details other metrics which point to both stability and growth in both online and offline gaming,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst at The NPD Group, in a statement.
“The installed base of video game systems continues to grow, the platforms available to play games continue to expand, and the options for content acquisition have never been greater, especially online,” she said. “And yet, effective monetization of many forms of online gaming continues to be a topic of much debate and discussion within the industry.”
Both online and offline video game players in the US are most influenced by word-of-mouth when learning about new games. But those online gamers who play on social networks are also likely to see advertisements or promotions for their games on the social sites or elsewhere on the Web.
The most avid console and PC gamers, on the other hand, told integrated marketing agency BLITZ they were very unlikely to be influenced in their purchase choices by social sites. Instead, they looked to more traditional word-of-mouth and online peer reviews.
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Check out today’s other article, “Print’s Place in Multichannel Retailing.”