Watch: Gaming Sales Reach New High
The number of mobile gamers has grown 5 percent since last year, according to a new study from NPD Group’s EEDAR company, thanks to the category’s broad accessibility.
“Deconstructing Mobile & Tablet Gaming 2019” reports that of the 283.1 million mobile users in the U.S. and Canada, 210.9 million are mobile gamers. These respondents said gaming is one of the most frequent uses for their devices, with smartphone gamers typically playing on their phone on a daily basis.
Tablet gamers, meanwhile, play only a few times a week, which NPD said is consistent with overall tablet usage.
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Among the details released:
- Children are the most likely to play on a tablet (83 percent vs. 54 percent of teens/adults).
- Teens and adults are most likely to play on a smartphone (92 percent play games on a smartphone vs. 63 percent of children).
- Android phones remain the most popular gaming option for smartphone-only gamers, which NPD partially attributed to a wider range of price points.
- Dual device usage, however, is most common within the Apple ecosystem: 44 percent of iOS users play on both an iPhone and iPad vs. 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.”
The firm surveyed 5,000 U.S. and Canadian mobile gamers in October, ages 2 and older, who had access to a qualifying device and had used it to play a game within 30 days.
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