measuring the online gamer gdc austin – september 2008 measuring the digital world

Measuring the Online GamerMeasuring the Online Gamer

GDC Austin – September 2008

MEASURING THE DIGITAL WORLD

Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore 22

Data Sourced From comScore’s Global Data Sourced From comScore’s Global Panel of 2MM Internet Users WorldwidePanel of 2MM Internet Users WorldwideData Sourced From comScore’s Global Data Sourced From comScore’s Global Panel of 2MM Internet Users WorldwidePanel of 2MM Internet Users Worldwide

360° View of Consumer Behavior360° View of Consumer Behavior

Media Exposure

Online Transactions

Search BehaviorSearch

Behavior

DemographicsLife Stages

GameplayGameplay

Web Visiting and Viewing

A Global Measurement of Audience and e-CommerceA Global Measurement of Audience and e-Commerce

32 Individually Reported Countries

172 Countries with Sample Presence

Companies that use our data…Companies that use our data…

Telcom

Financial

Retail Travel CPG PharmaTechnology

comScore observes consumers’ online gaming behaviorscomScore observes consumers’ online gaming behaviors

Starting with a large sample of audiences in nearly every country…

We predict, with great accuracy, the behaviors of the entire World-wide audience…

Additionally…Additionally…

Edward Hunter, from comScore Gordon Freeman,

from Half-Life<>

The need for gaming audience measurementThe need for gaming audience measurement

Gamers

Ages: 18 – 24 Gender: MalesCountry: U.S.

In the beginning things were easy.

Throw a rock at a group of U.S. 18 – 24 males, hit a gamer, hit five gamers…

Gamers

Ages: 18 – 24 Gender: MalesCountry: Worldwide

Those days are gone.

You’ll still hit a gamer if you throw a rock…

Gamers

Ages: 35+Gender: FemalesCountry: WorldwideGenre:

Console/Fitness

Gamers

Ages: 14- 17Gender: FemalesCountry: WorldwideGenre: Online MMO

Gamers

Ages: 14- 17Gender: FemalesCountry: WorldwideGenre: Online MMO

Gamers

Ages: 25-24Gender: FemalesCountry: WorldwideGenre: Offline Casual

Gamers

Ages: 25-24Gender: FemalesCountry: WorldwideGenre: Offline Casual

Gamers

Ages: 54+Gender: MalesCountry: WorldwideGenre: Online Multiplayer

Board, Card

But unless your game is targeted at that specific type of gamer..

Probably you’ll just have really angry gamers.

But understanding and measuring your audience(s) isn’t only important to protect yourself from an angry mob..

Proprietary and Confidential Do not distribute without written permission from comScore

The Demand for `Hard Numbers` is rising…The Demand for `Hard Numbers` is rising…

■ Publishers

■ Producers

■ Marketers

■ Advertisers

■ Venture Capitalists

■ Media outlets

Who is making the demand?Who is making the demand?

■ Reach/Frequency

■ Genre Preferences

■ Market Size

■ Demographics

■ Exposure data

■ Engagement

What are they demanding?What are they demanding?

Take Away: Your elevator pitches had better start including more numbers than just the floor your getting off on.

Where are the changes in gamer audiences happening?Where are the changes in gamer audiences happening?

The short answer is: Everywhere.

Where is this change occurring?Where is this change occurring?

Source: comScore MediaMetrix, GamePlan

You are reading this correctly; 2.2 million more young girls are playing online games than last year.

Are we awake yet?

2007 2008

Then how about the 4 million new female gamers in the 35+ demo, up 21% over last year?

Certainly though as we get older, our gameplay slows…right?

Apparently, one and a half million new male gamers over 55 years old didn’t get that memo.

2007 2008

Newsflash: Those numbers were all just U.S.Newsflash: Those numbers were all just U.S.

Here’s the world-wide picture.

2007 2008

The audience for online games worldwide grew 29% in the last 12 months adding 68 million new gamers.

So what’s the big idea?So what’s the big idea?

The Gamer we used to know.18 – 34 Male

Technically Savvy

Resistant to Marketing

Less frequent consumption of traditional media

So what’s the big idea?So what’s the big idea?

The Gamer today.

All ages, genders, ethnicities

Internet Savvy

Accustomed to advertising

Consuming less traditional media

The big idea is: The gaming audience has changed from unique to mainstream, so creating and marketing games needs to become more mainstream.

Key TakeawaysKey Takeaways

■ The overall gaming audience world-wide is growing fast

■ The demographics experiencing the most interesting growth are also the unexpected demographics

■ These demographics are not all Gen-Y/Gen-X, you cannot reach them with skateboards and Mountain Dew™.

Three critical reasons to measure your audienceThree critical reasons to measure your audience

Publishers and Studios Publishers and Studios can get an accurate can get an accurate estimate of the estimate of the consumer market for an consumer market for an online gameonline game

Producers and content Producers and content developers can developers can understand the lifestyle understand the lifestyle and characteristics of and characteristics of the audience being the audience being targetedtargeted

Marketing teams can Marketing teams can discover where to find discover where to find the target consumers for the target consumers for the gamethe game

It’s important to note that;It’s important to note that;

Much about the gaming audience has changed.Much about the gaming audience has changed.

1. More women play games online then men.

2. Game genres no longer dictate the audience for that game, where the game is played is now a major contributing factor.

3. Attitudes of gamers have changed as the demographic compositions have been altered.

4. The most successful games today are marketed in traditional media channels, across a broad set of target demographics

5. The behaviors or the online gaming audiences show little difference today than the audiences of any other mainstream medium.

It will never return to the standard 18-24 Male audience it once was.

Online Gamers Internet Persona - DemographicsOnline Gamers Internet Persona - Demographics

Geographic Distribution

Age Breakouts

Gender

Incomes

Online Gamers Internet Persona - EngagementOnline Gamers Internet Persona - Engagement

MalesFemale

Online GameplayAverage Session Times

Women Prefer (Top 3 Preferences):- Puzzle, Card and Arcade Games

Men Prefer (Top 3 Preferences):- Action, Cards, Strategy

CheckpointCheckpoint

How much do you know about your target audience(s)?

Audiences change, perceptions changeAudiences change, perceptions change

18 – 3418 – 34

Traditional Notions

“Hardcore Gamers” Game Advertising Resistant

18 – 3418 – 34

Maturing Gamers14-1714-17

Traditional Notions

“Softer Gamers” Grew up online with ads

As young teens age, they enter the next demographic

Bringing with them the behavioral characteristics of the previous demo.

18 – 3418 – 34

Traditional Notions “Light Gamers” No preconceptionsOpen to most gaming models

New GamersNew

Gamers

New gamers enter the gaming demographic with a completely different set of characteristics

And those become part of the demographic too.

18 – 34

Traditional Notions “Mixed Gamers” Lifestyle changes

MATURINGGAMERS

New GamersNew

Gamers

Traditional Notions “New adopters

consoleonline casual

What everyone knows: Online Gamers have changed…What everyone knows: Online Gamers have changed…

So, how do we track and measure this change?So, how do we track and measure this change?

What does ‘Measuring the Online Gamer’ Mean?What does ‘Measuring the Online Gamer’ Mean?

■ Change in the online gaming audience has taken place in: Age Gender Nationality Locale Media Consumption Spending Habits Online behaviors Offline (lifestyle) behaviors

Why does the gaming audience seem to have such broad attributes?Why does the gaming audience seem to have such broad attributes?

All online gamers are not created alike…All online gamers are not created alike…

■ ‘Connected’ or Online Games come in many shapes and sizes

– MMO

– Shooters

– Casual and hard core card games

– Casual ‘widget’ games

– More…

■ Gameplay crosses genres…sometimes.

■ Interests and behaviors differ greatly between gaming audiences

■ Reaching and understanding ‘online gamers’? Too large of a target.

Lets start thinking about Online Gamer ‘Segments’Lets start thinking about Online Gamer ‘Segments’

Heavy Online GamerHeavy Online Gamer Light Online GamerLight Online Gamer

What the heck is an ‘Online Gamer Segment’?What the heck is an ‘Online Gamer Segment’?

Behaviors

■ Online 57 hours a month– And 24% of that is online gaming

■ Leans towards Instant messaging, Gaming Information Sites

■ Demographically Trends towards Male 18-24

■ Online game genre favorites are MMO, FPS, RTS

Behaviors

■ Online 36 hours a month– Only 1% of that is online gaming

■ Consumes more traditional entertainment and retail content

■ Demographically Trends towards Female 25-30

■ Online game genre favorites are puzzle, card, strategy

EXAMPLE: COMPARING THE ‘HEAVY ONLINE GAMER’ TO THE ‘LIGHT ONLINE GAMER’

And that means what exactly?And that means what exactly?

While significant overlap in online gamer behaviors exist, behaviors overall between groups can be dramatic.

Obvious overlap in behaviors

can be self-evident, but the devil is in the details...

Show of hands: Which category of online gamers exhibits the highest traffic to online computer hardware retailers?

Light gamers visitation to Retail Computer Hardware sites ranks #1 in overall retail site visitation

Medium online gamers rank #2…

Heavy online gamers rank it #4…

After books…

And Department Stores…

Lets try again: Rank Light, Medium and Heavy Online gamers by musical entertainment consumption online…

Light online gamers have the highest consumption of music entertainment online

Heavy online gamers rank #2…

Medium gamers come in third…

After television…

And kids entertainment…

A difference in approaching the target…A difference in approaching the target…

The old way…

“ONLINE GAMERS”

Psst! I’m a big huge target…

A difference in approaching the target…A difference in approaching the target…

The NEW way…

Heavy online gamers Male (18 – 34)

Heavy online gamers Female (18 – 34)

Medium online gamers Male (12 – 18)

Light online gamersFemale (18 – 34)

Market Sizing: How many people will play your game?Market Sizing: How many people will play your game?

The measurement of online behaviors that pertain to online gaming effectively establish the market size potential of an online game.

Online content consumption

Search terms and search volume

Online purchasing

Game play/Cross Play

Genre, platform, interactivity preferences

Audience Profiling: Who are these people anyway?Audience Profiling: Who are these people anyway?

Once you have established the online behaviors of your target audience, defining who they are is a matter of documenting;

Age, Gender, Geographic and Income Demographics

Internet connection speed

PC or console details

Gameplay behaviors (e.g Subscriptions to games, Widget game play)

Offline behaviors, lifestyle, viewpoints, attitudes

Marketing to the Masses: You know how many, you know who, so…where are they?Marketing to the Masses: You know how many, you know who, so…where are they?

Marketing to your target audience is simple: find out where the audience hangs out online.

Anyone can figure that out.

Honing in on other behaviors = competitive advantage:

Traditional Media Consumption (Television, Print, etc)

Lifestyle, habits and hobbies

Travel, electronics and media purchasing

And all of the other measurements too….

■ Don’t go radio silent

■ Make traditional internet calls

■ Signal user actions– Ad exposure

– Session start/Session stop

– Significant actions

– Insert (thing you want to measure) hereAll

Presentation Data

Sources

provided by comSc

ore ©200

Build your games to be measured!!Build your games to be measured!!

Got Questions?Got Questions?

Let’s open the floor for a few questions!

You can also email me with any questions at: erhunter@comscore.com

Want a copy of today’s presentation?Visit http://www.comscore.com/request/gamers.asp

measuring the online gamer gdc austin – september 2008 measuring the digital world

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