Kids 12 years of age and younger account for 24pc of video-game industry unit sales, while households with kids in this age group comprise 45pc of total industry dollar sales.
With an average of 68 leisure hours each week, and the largest share of the kids’ leisure time pie going to entertainment, kids have a major influence on the games industry, according to Kids & Cross-Entertainment Behaviors from research player The NPD Group.
According to the report, which compiles a broad array of recent research on kids, including how they spend their leisure time, share of wallet, content acquisition, and top brands and licences, 57pc of kids ages 2-12 play video games, and 62pc of them use a computer.
So, while it is a big market for games, this consumer segment is far from penetrated, representing an area for future industry expansion.
“According to the US Census Bureau, there are 53.4 million of them ages 12 and under in the US, accounting for 17pc of the population. Yet for many industries, games included, they account for a much larger portion of total sales,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group.
“For the 12-months ending June 2009, this group of consumers comprised 24pc of games industry unit sales. Tweens in particular are a highly involved group of consumers as 75pc of this age group play video games and 81pc are on the computer for non-homework related activities.”
By John Kennedy
