Youngsters Fuel Growth Of Online Game Sector
British kids and teenagers have a huge appetite for playing online games, contributing to the online games audience growing over 16% in the last year, according to new research from Nielsen//NetRatings.
The Nielsen//NetRatings research reveals that one in five Britons (5.4 million) online in June 2006 were under 18 years of age, while over the last year the number of girls under 18 using the internet grew 7.4%, twice the rate of overall internet growth (3.7%). In addition, over the same period, the number of boys under 18 using the Internet grew 6.2%.
The online games sector significantly ‘over-performs’ on kids and teenagers with one in three (33%) of the online games audience aged under 18 compared to one in five (20%) for the entire internet. Meanwhile, the most ‘over-performing’ age group in online games is teenage (12-17 year old) boys, making up twice as much of the online games audience (12%) compared to the entire internet audience (6%).
The most ‘under-performing’ age group in online games is 50+ women, making up only 59% as much of the online games audience (6.4%) as they do of the entire internet audience (11%).
The Universal McCann report TrendMarker, Parallel Worlds, said that marketers should look to massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) if they are trying to target 18-34 year old males (see Marketers Should Look To Online Games).
Nielsen//NetRatings says that one in every four minutes spent in online games in the UK is accounted for by under 18 boys. One in every 10 minutes is accounted for by under 18 girls, with under 18 year olds accounting for 36% of total time spent in online games (over one in every three minutes).
In addition, the most popular time to play online games is between 7pm and 8pm. During June 2006, 41% of the audience to the online games sector did so between these hours. However, the peak for under 18 year olds visiting online games occurred between 4pm and 5pm, with 45% of this age group visiting at this hour during the month.
| Top online games sites by popularity and ‘stickiness’ | ||||
| Unique Audience (000’s) | Most Popular Site | Rank | ‘Stickiest’ Site | Average Time per Person |
| 1,325 | Miniclip | 1 | RuneScape | 2 hrs 25 mins |
| 1,147 | RealArcade Network | 2 | King.com | 1 hr 43 mins |
| 970 | IGN/GameSpy | 3 | Yahoo! Games | 1 hr 04 mins |
| 909 | RuneScape | 4 | MSN Games | 57 mins |
| 773 | GameSpot | 5 | RealArcade Network | 53 mins |
Alex Burmaster, European internet analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings, said: “Take the fact that the online games sector is growing at four times the rate of overall internet growth together with the increasing numbers of under 18 year olds online and it is easy to see why companies such as MTV Networks are looking to get a piece of the action.
“Their $200 million purchase of Atom Entertainment, which includes games sites Shockwave and AddictingGames, is testament to the huge potential that lies ahead for the future of the sector, whether it’s fantasy adventure, puzzles, shoot ’em ups, sports or platform games.”
The online game market will grow from $3.4 billion in 2005 to $13 billion in 2011, according to a recent study from DFC Intelligence (see Online Games Could Hit $13 Billion By 2011).