The Grown-Up Gamer

Your video game ads should include the middle-aged folks still blasting away

Remember the days when chomping power pellets and throwing flaming barrels at gorillas was strictly kid’s stuff?

Those days are over, according to The Nielson Company’s recent report, “The State of the Video Gamer.” The report says that the average age of video game players has been steadily increasing, and that higher-end gaming consoles like the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 attract more engaged gamers (i.e., adults), drawing them away from other distractions such as television. As game consoles have evolved into multimedia hubs, the average age of the user of the game console has steadily increased.

According to Neilson, the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3, higher-end systems that tend to attract older folks, have the highest “active user percent measure,” so they see the most use among gamers. The two products also have the highest average usage days and daily number of sessions. That means a lot of adults are gaming on a regular basis.

PC games are also feeling the love from adults. According to Neilson’s December 2008 data, the single largest group of personal computer video game players is females age 25 to 54. That number accounts for approximately 29% of total PC game players. Males age 25 to 54 account for the next largest block, roughly 20% of all PC game players.

So what does all this mean?
As games have come of age, so have the people who play them. If you’re an advertiser who sells video games, you may be missing out on a huge audience if you only target children and teens in your ads. As the Neilson study indicates, game use is on the rise among adults, so if you do sell games, consider creating ads that speak to grown-ups as well.

Whereas things like deals and low price points may not matter as much to the under-18 set, for adult gamers those things can make a huge difference. Call out the things that may appeal to adults about gaming, such as price, variety, versatility, etc. Consider creating unique campaigns for special occasions such as Father’s Day, so that you can run distinct “dad” ads that may appeal to Father’s Day shoppers. Simply put, your audience is bigger than you thought—so you want to make sure that your message reaches all of them.

As gaming continues to evolve, it’s less of a fringe area just for kids, and more of a total family entertainment source, right up there with the TV and the DVD player. Really, who knows how wide the gaming the audience will grow, or who the next group of gamers may be: Grandparents? Babies? The family dog?

Whoever picks up the controller next, one thing’s for sure: Advertisers should be ready to market to those people. Because like most good video games, when it comes to game sales, there’s always another level.

— Noah Belson, Content Quality Analyst

Photo courtesy of Flickr user gwire.