Why yes, yes they do. Who knew? The majority of the mobile gaming market are middle-aged women, according to new research by mobile game recommendation engine PlayPhone. From the company’s study of over 1,000 U.S. adult male and female respondents, it was discovered that 68% of today’s mobile players are women.
In addition to this, it was also reported that among the female gamers who played on their smartphones or tablets for at least one hour daily, 71% were Caucasian, 62% were married and 46% were aged between 40 and 64 years old.
“As mobile gaming expands with increased smartphone and tablet penetration, we’re seeing a very broad and diverse audience develop for mobile gaming, with women comprising 68% of mobile gamers who play on their smartphone or tablet for at least an hour each day,” said Anders Evju, the CEO of PlayPhone.
“The majority of these women are middle-aged, which can create new opportunities to reach this demographic in particular. It opens the door to create specific types of apps or advertisements to target this audience.”
The report gave an insightful picture of the mobile gaming market. While the middle-aged female demographic does account for the largest portion of players, the research found that those between 25 to 39 years old provided the biggest revenue opportunity for mobile gaming monetization.
Evju continued: “There is a lot of good content targeted to this audience that monetizes well, so that helps to boost spending for this demographic. Generally, those younger than 25 have limited disposable income, which can reduce their in-app purchases, though they have a high comfort level with purchasing on mobile.”
64% of this age group are willing to spend money on the mobile platform, possibly due to their familiarity with the technology. In contrast, 60% of middle-aged gamers state that they never spend any money on game content. Around 72% of consumers in general claim they feel uncomfortable when entering credit card information directly into an app.
This could see app developers and mobile-optimized game sites change the way they acquire payments. Direct carrier billing could become more popular, as it requires no personal information to complete the transaction, and could see more players willing to spend.
The data also revealed that 50% of heavy gamers, those who play for more than three hours a week, have received invitations to play games via a messenger service. 47% said they would be likely to download a game if they received a messenger invite.
This, along with the fact that 71% of the female respondents stated that they found iTunes and Google Play Game’s recommendations only slightly accurate, could set the stage for more enhanced targeting on the platform.
“While the mobile gaming industry is aware of its generally broad customer base that skews towards women, PlayPhone’s Mobile Gaming Chronicles have achieved a rare glimpse into who is likeliest to spend money for a better mobile gaming experience,” Evju added. “And the opportunity for messenger apps to be a platform for mobile gaming is huge.”
I am definitely in that 40 to 60 something age group. Darn I’m middle aged, but yes, I am definitely a gamer and candy crush is my addiction along with words with friends.
Me too! I’ll be 40 in a couple of weeks. LOL! I have kind of given up on Candy Crush after getting frustrated with not being able to pass a level. My current addiction is Ultimate Puzzle.