Player Demographics reports and market data
Documents
Attracting more than gamers - Esports as a social event
Esports has evolved beyond competitive gaming to function as a significant social phenomenon, attracting a diverse audience that extends well past the core demographic of active players.
- Approximately 32 percent of the 380 million global esports viewers do not play the games they watch, indicating that the industry's primary appeal is shifting toward community and culture rather than game mechanics.
- The social nature of esports is driving massive real-time engagement, with live chats at events like Intel Extreme Masters Katowice recording nearly 1,000 messages per minute.
- Physical attendance at tournaments is surging as fans increasingly treat esports events like music festivals to participate in cosplay and communal experiences.
The cloud gamer – Defining the audience
Cloud gaming services address a significant barrier in the gaming industry: the inability of a large portion of the PC gaming population to run modern, high-demand titles due to hardware limitations.
- Approximately 70% of Steam users currently lack the hardware specifications required to run modern AAA titles like Far Cry 5.
- The core cloud gaming demographic consists of males aged 18–34 who use hardware at least five years old, with 50% of these users having never performed a hardware upgrade.
- Cloud gaming business models have shifted from unsuccessful flat-rate subscription services to hybrid models where users pay for virtual PC access while providing their own game licenses.
Girl Games of the 1990s: A Retrospective
The 1990s marked a pivotal shift in interactive media as developers challenged the industry’s dismissal of female players by proving the commercial viability of games designed specifically for girls.
- The 'girl games' genre of the 1990s relied heavily on evidence-based design, with companies like Purple Moon conducting extensive research with thousands of girls to inform game mechanics rather than relying on developer assumptions.
- Barbie Fashion Designer (1996) was a pivotal success that proved the necessity of television advertising for the genre, despite initial skepticism from publishers who were unfamiliar with the market potential.
- The genre experienced a significant boom in the mid-1990s but largely collapsed by 2006, as many projects were viewed as short-term marketing phenomena rather than sustainable long-term business models.
Essential Video Game News: October 2018
This report provides a comprehensive overview of the French video game industry as of October 2018, detailing consumer profiles, market performance, and the regulatory efforts led by the Union of Video Game Publishers (SELL).
- The French video game industry generated 4.3 billion euros in 2017, marking an 18% year-over-year growth driven by a 23% increase in the console ecosystem and a 22% rise in mobile gaming.
- Gaming is a mainstream activity in France, with 74% of the population playing games and the average regular gamer being 39 years old for men and 37 for women.
- The Union of Video Game Publishers (SELL) promotes the PEGI rating system, which is currently used by 65% of French adults to monitor and guide their children's gaming habits.
Profiling Casual, Core, and Hardcore: What We Learned from 350,000 Gamers
Gaming motivations are driven by a complex interplay of psychological factors rather than traditional industry labels.
- Traditional industry labels of casual, core, and hardcore are ineffective at predicting player behavior, as they function more as demographic markers than accurate reflections of play style.
- Gaming motivations are universal, with an 86 percent overlap in preferences between genders, debunking the idea that play styles are defined by demographic stereotypes.
- While men and women show distinct preferences—men favoring competition and destruction, and women favoring design and completion—women match men in their interest in challenge and competition.
2017 Figures: The French Video Game Market
The French video game market reached a historic milestone in 2017, generating 4.3 billion euros in total turnover and achieving a record growth rate of 18 percent.
- The French video game market reached 4.3 billion euros in 2017, marking a record 18 percent growth rate.
- Consoles dominated the market with 56 percent of total value, driven by a 20 percent increase in software turnover and a 46 percent surge in digital sales.
- Digital distribution is the primary revenue driver for PC gaming, accounting for 95 percent of its software income.
China Mobile Market Update: January 2018
This market update provides a comprehensive analysis of the Chinese mobile landscape as of November 2017.
- Apple leads the Chinese mobile market with a 25.7% share, while Vivo overtook Huawei to become the third-largest brand at 14.5%.
- Tencent’s MyApp remains the dominant Android app store with 25.1% coverage, though 360 Mobile Assistant is currently the fastest-growing platform.
- NetEase dominates the iOS grossing charts, holding four of the top five positions, with Tencent’s Honor of Kings occupying the remaining spot.
Why aren't there more game developers making games for women?
The mobile gaming industry faces a significant paradox: while women represent a majority of the mobile player base, demonstrate higher engagement and loyalty, and offer lower user acquisition costs, the sector remains heavily focused on male-centric content.
- Women constitute the majority of the mobile gaming player base, yet they remain underserved because less than 10% of core development roles are held by women.
- The industry suffers from a cycle of homogenous development where predominantly male teams design games based on their own personal interests, ignoring the high engagement and loyalty of female players.
- Mobile studios often prioritize 'passion-driven' development and autonomous team structures modeled after companies like Supercell, which inadvertently reinforces hiring biases and excludes female talent.
Piloting my way up – Being a competitive woman In gaming
Kati Kärkkäinen, a producer and competitive gamer, explores the cultural and psychological barriers preventing women from participating in esports.
- The underrepresentation of women in esports is primarily driven by societal conditioning that discourages girls from developing traits like aggression, competitiveness, and assertiveness, rather than solely by harassment.
- Competitive success in high-performance gaming requires specific, non-gendered psychological traits including stress tolerance, resilience, and ego strength, all of which can be cultivated through deliberate practice.
- Women often gravitate toward games marketed to their gender or those perceived as requiring 'hard work' over 'brilliance,' reflecting broader societal beliefs about gendered capabilities.
Essential Video Game News: France (October 2017)
The French video game industry demonstrated robust economic health in 2016, achieving a total turnover of €3.46 billion.
- The French video game industry achieved a total turnover of €3.46 billion in 2016, representing a 4% annual growth rate.
- Women comprise 47% of the French gaming population, yet they represent only 15% of the industry's professional workforce.
- The Women in Games France initiative is actively working to address the gender employment gap through professional development, networking, and technical workshops.
Beyond Ageism: Exploring VR Games for an Older Audience
The gaming industry possesses a significant, untapped opportunity in the 50-plus demographic, a segment that demonstrates a robust interest in immersive technology.
- The 50-plus demographic represents a significant, untapped market for VR that values high-quality, challenging, and aesthetically mature content rather than simplistic brain-training games.
- Developers should prioritize inclusive design by implementing seated play modes, adjustable UI scaling, and intuitive motion controls to accommodate physiological needs related to vision, hearing, and balance.
- Successful engagement requires avoiding ageist tropes and instead focusing on mechanics centered on exploration, social interaction, and lifelike aesthetics that respect the player's intelligence.
Make your game grand in Russia
The Russian mobile gaming market presents a significant growth opportunity for global publishers, characterized by a large user base, lower competition, and cost-effective entry barriers.
- Russia is the fifth-largest mobile gaming market globally, boasting over 62 million users and significantly lower acquisition costs, with average Cost Per Install (CPI) rates around $1 compared to $16 in the United States.
- Android is the primary platform for scale, with an audience nearly three times the size of the iOS market.
- Localization is a critical success factor for complex genres like RPGs and strategy games, as only 7% of the Russian population speaks English.