ESA Releases 2011 Survey of the Industry

In light of the recent Brown vs EMA video games case, the ESA has released a new industry report with all sorts sorts of information about the type of people playing games as of the year 2011. ESA’s surveys shed light on exactly how many people are playing video games, how old they are, how long they’ve been playing, etc. Also, due to the nature of the court case, the report leans towards how much children are effected by games and how involved parents are.

Report highlights:

– 72% of American households play computer or video games.

– The average game player age is 37.

– 18% of gamers are under 18 years old, 53% are 18-49, and 29% are over 50.

– 58% of gamers are male, while 42% are female.

– The average age of the most frequent gam purchaser is 41.

– 33% of gamers that playing computer or video games is their favorite entertainment activity.

– 19% of the most frequent game players pay to play online games

– 55% of gamers play games on their phones or handheld device.

– 65% of gamers play games with other gamers in person (an increase from 2010’s 64% and 2009’s 62%).

– 12 is the average number of years adult gamers have been playing computer or video games (Males average at 13 years, while females average at 10).

– 91% of the time parents are present when purchasing or renting games, and 86% of time children receive permission before purchasing or renting games.

– 68% of parents believe video games provide mental stimulation or education, 57% believe video games help the family spend time together, 54% believe video games help to connect with friends, and 59% believe that video games provide more physical activity now than five years ago.

– 98% of parents are confident in the accuracy of ESRB ratings, and 86% are aware of the ESRB rating system.

– 75% of parents believe that the parental controls available in all new video game consoles are useful, and a majority of parents place time limits on media consumption.

– 45% of parents play video games with their children on a weekly basis, an increase from 2007’s 36%.

– The top best-selling video game genres are Action Games (21.7%), Sports Games (16.3%), and Shooters (15.9%).

– The top best-selling computer game genres are Strategy (33.6%), Role-Playing (20.3%), and Casual (19.5%).

– $25.1 Billion spent on video games in 2010.

Below is a chart of the Top 20 Video Games of 2010, which features New Super Mario Bros. Wii as the top sold Wii game.

From this data, the gaming scene is surprisingly older than I thought it would be. It’s also nice to see that video games overall are looked on with a positive light, despite the need for recent court cases.

The only disappointing thing is that Zelda isn’t among the most bought games of 2010, but I’m sure that things will be different in 2011.

Readers, let’s have a little survey of our own. List some of your demographics in the comments.

Source: ESA