NPD Group: In 2018, U.S. and Canada Experienced Increases In Total Number of Mobile Gamers
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., Jan. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- According to Deconstructing Mobile & Tablet Gaming 2019, the latest report from EEDAR, an NPD Group company, of the 283.1 million mobile users in the USA and Canada, 210.9 million are mobile gamers, a 5 percent increase over 2017. Mobile gaming's accessibility makes it broadly appealing across demographic audiences.
The report, done in collaboration with Sensor Tower, examines the current state of the USA & Canadian mobile gaming market, including the gaming habits of current players, and market performance trends.
Mobile gamers report that playing games is one of the most frequent uses for their device(s), with smartphone gamers typically playing games on their phone on a daily basis. Tablet gamers generally use their devices less consistently, gaming only a few times a week. This fits with the overall trend of tablet usage as they are not as readily available in the course of a day as a smartphone.
Among all mobile gamers in the U.S. and Canada, children are among the most likely to play on a tablet (83 percent play games on a tablet, compared to 54 percent of teens / adults), while teens and adults are most likely to play on a smartphone (92 percent play games on a smartphone, compared to 63 percent of children).
Despite the popularity of iOS among smartphone gamers, Android phones remain the most popular gaming option for smartphone-only gamers due in part to their wider range of price points. On the other hand, dual device usage is most common within the Apple ecosystem, with 44 percent of iOS users playing on both an iPhone & iPad, compared to 33 percent of Android users.
"Mobile gaming revenues have continued to grow in the U.S. and Canada, and it now represents the largest segment within the gaming marketplace," said Mat Piscatella, games industry analyst at The NPD Group. "Sixty percent of Americans and Canadians play mobile games because of the rich library of content available. Mobile games such as Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans, Pokemon Go, Roblox, Fortnite and Slotomania, among many others, are examples of the breadth and depth of engaging experiences available on mobile platforms."
Methodology: The data in EEDAR 2019 Deconstructing Mobile & Tablet Gaming Report comes from a survey of 5,000 active USA & Canadian mobile gamers (ages 2+) conducted in October 2018. Participants in this survey were recruited from two representative pools: adults (respondents ages 18+); and children / teens (ages 2-17) who were recruited via parent surrogates (with instructions to have the child / teen complete the survey themselves to the extent that they were able). Respondents qualified as active mobile gamers for the purpose of this study if they owned / had access to a qualifying device and had used the device to play a game within 30 days of the survey. Data on mobile gaming in the context of broader gaming habits and leisure activities (see pgs. 34 - 37) comes from EEDAR's Gamer Segmentation Survey which included 5,000 active USA gamers (ages 2+) conducted in June 2018. Revenue & performance data: mobile gaming revenue and other performance metrics (e.g. app store engagement) were provided by Sensor Tower.
About The NPD Group, Inc.
NPD offers data, industry expertise, and prescriptive analytics to help our clients grow their businesses in a changing world. Over 2000 companies worldwide rely on us to help them measure, predict, and improve performance across all channels, including brick-and-mortar and e-commerce. We have offices in 27 cities worldwide, with operations spanning the Americas, Europe, and APAC. Practice areas include apparel, appliances, automotive, beauty, books, B2B technology, consumer technology, e-commerce, fashion accessories, food consumption, foodservice, footwear, home, juvenile products, media entertainment, mobile, office supplies, retail, sports, toys, travel retail, games, and watches / jewelry. For more information, visit npd.com. Follow us on Twitter: @npdgroup @npd_entertain
SOURCE NPD
