A New Target Audience: The Mobile Social Gamer

“There is a tectonic shift in the landscape of video gaming” writes Flurry, Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of mobile analytics on iOS and Android. “The era of marketing singularly to the 18-34 hardcore male gamer is officially over” reads their latest analysis on mobile social gamers, noting the impressive growth of both iOS and Android in relation to the rest of the market. The data makes for some interesting reading, and the emergence of a “mobile casual gamer” (someone who plays games on their mobile device for fun) is becoming ever clearer. And iOS is the one who’s taking the biggest “bite” out of portable platforms.

So who is this mobile casual gamer? Taking an average across the demographics, the person is: 28 years old, female (53% chance), North American (64% chance), has a household income of $66.1K, holds a bachelor’s degree (61% chance) and is white (66% chance). Surprised? These figures came from the answers of 63 727 individuals.

The rise in growth of the female base lies in parallel to that of traditional gamers, where only 40% are female. Notably, on the age front, 47% lie between 13-25, 48% between 26-44. Europe still boasts 30% of all mobile social gamers, but North America has a clear advantage in the market, probably due to the inception of games and technology that it receives before the rest of the world.

Personally, what is most striking lies on the education front. The US average of holding a bachelor’s degree or higher? A mere 28%. That average more than doubles, to 61%, when you attach the newly-coined “mobile social gamer” phrase to the data. The myth that iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users are merely cash rich is exactly that: a myth. Developers take heed, for this data reveals something profound: the main market – a target audience for most – has an educational advantage in comparison to the rest of the world.

Furthermore, the report notes that “[mobile social gamers] use social games far more often than they watch prime-time television shows, and using for 25 minutes per day, are heavy users of this interactive content.” One of the ratings 148Apps uses for games is re-use/replay value: how enjoyable is the game the day after you’ve played it, and the day after that etc. Although those 25 minutes may not be consumed by one particular game, the ability for a game to present new challenges and difficulties is essential if a target audience is to be sustained (think about thesuccess of Flight Control, which changes every day).

Developers, take note. For “mobile social gamers are the new mass-market powerhouse.” The old cliché picture of a young, male gamer is far, far away from the truth.