New Report Reveals How US Gamers Play

Industry tracker Nielsen released its annual gaming report, showing that a number of people playing hasn’t changed too drastically, but they’re playing more now than ever.

Interestingly enough, the report reveals a slight increase in the number of players who use one console. The number rose to 46 per cent up from the 42 per cent the year prior. Though, last year could have been more of a blip as the report reveals in 2015, that number was 45 per cent.  The mobile and tablet market seems to have cooled off a little bit according to Nielsen as well. 62 per cent of users game on a cell phone or tablet. That number is down from 66 per cent in 2016.

Exactly half of the time spent on current generation consoles is used for non-gaming activitieNis, but with the rise of Netflix and other streaming services, it shouldn’t be surprising. 22 per cent is used for offline gaming, and 28 per cent is used for online. The rise of Overwatch, SMITE and other easy to jump into online titles probably contributed to this.  In terms of influences, 80 per cent of players say genre influences their purchase, 74 per cent say graphics, while 71 per cent say storyline.

The report goes on to state that 47 per cent of gamers prefer to use a console, 27 per cent prefer a computer and 26 per cent prefer a smart device. When asked about what consoles they heard of, the results were split into three sections. The first was general population. In this sector, 69 per cent knew what the PlayStation 4 is, 61 per cent know of the Xbox one, 22 per cent know what the Switch is, 21 per cent know the PlayStation 4 Pro, and 11 per cent know the Scorpio. The results are similar in the next category “gamers.” In this portion of the population, 77 per cent know what a PlayStation 4 is, while 72 per cent know the Xbox One, 29 per cent know of the Switch, 27 percent are aware of the PlayStation 4 Pro, and 14 per cent know of the Scorpio. The third and final portion was for non-gamers and the numbers were much different. 52 per cent of non-gamers know of the PlayStation 4, 41 per cent know of the Xbox One, nine per cent know of the PlayStation 4 pro, seven per cent know of the Nintendo Switch, and three per cent know of the Scorpio.

The report shows a big rift in how console gamers and PC gamers purchase their media, though, it’s not all surprising. 69 per cent of console players prefer physical games, while 75 per cent of PC players have an affinity for digital. The report states that limited console storage space, and price, along with the Steam platform to be the biggest factors in those numbers. But according to this report, console and PC gamers are spending less than years prior. 34 per cent attribute that to their current libraries keeping them happy, 20 per cent say they play free games or trials, and 24 per cent claim they wait for price drops. The games as service model might also attribute to this, players generally spend less but buy more, but that isn’t outright attributed.