Using its syndicated Gameasure service, which has been designed to track a variety of metrics for videogames across multiple gaming platforms, such as user demographics, reach and frequency, and duration of play, Interpret found that, during 2007, casual games reached over 145 million people aged 12-65. Of that figure over 71 million play casual games for one or more hours per week.
The strong majority of casual gamers, 85 percent, would prefer to play free ad-supported games than pay for downloads, which is one reason publishers like Electronic Arts (Battlefield: Heroes) and Sony Online Entertainment (Free Realms) are joining Disney Online (Pirates of the Caribbean Online) in this burgeoning space.
Last year the average time spent per week playing casual games increased 28 percent (4.0 hours to 5.1 hours) from 3Q’07 to 4Q’07. Time spent with casual games already surpasses magazines, newspapers, and other activities on the Internet.
"Casual gamers are highly motivated when it comes to finding information on products they’re interested in," said Michael Dowling, CEO of Interpret. "The ability to engage them in a relevant media vehicle, where they spend an average of four hours a week, can enforce a brand message or further their knowledge of brands. Active casual gamers are 22 percent more likely than the general population to seek out information about new products, but are also 36 percent more likely to switch brands just for the sake of change. These characteristics make them a potential envoy for launching brands, and open to switching away to a competitive brand."
moscallout“We expect considerable consolidation among casual gaming sites, as the market continues to evolve and larger conglomerates look for more assets.”/moscallout"The growth of the casual gaming audience, the engagement with the medium itself, and the heightened interest from advertisers has contributed to ad revenue projections approaching $400-700 million by 2010. That spending is expected to be spread across hundreds of casual gaming sites, although the three consistent champions of casual games through 2007 were Yahoo! Games, MSN Games, and Pogo.com. However, in Q4 2007, significant gains in popularity were made by Real Arcade, Popcap.com, and AOL Games, closing the gap on the top sites.
"As more sites launch and gain in popularity we can expect to see an even more diversified ranking," said Dowling. "At the same time we also expect considerable consolidation among casual gaming sites, as the market continues to evolve and larger conglomerates look for more assets."
The size of the casual gaming audience encourages some advertising investment, but in today’s market “size matters not,” added Dowling. Engagement has become a key evaluation metric to advertisers, and some of the allure with casual gamers generates from their growing engagement with games.
"We view games as a highly targeted medium," said Matt Story, director at Denuo Play, which works with game companies on brand integration programs. "The great thing about games is the targeting based on platform and type of game. The ability to reach your consumer via a targeted message is attractive to our clients.”
In an average week, casual gamers make 2.7 online purchases, slightly more than the general population (2.4 per week). Considering their likeliness to try new brands and willingness to seek out information about new products, they are a key target audience to advertisers. But it’s the size of the casual gaming audience that may be most appealing.