According to a recent report issued by The NPD Group, titled Online Gaming 2009, online video game usage has increased dramatically from previous year’s results and represents a real push in the category.
The report has outlined that online gaming across game consoles and portables has increased from 19 per cent in 2008 to 25 per cent in 2009, and most platforms across the board faired reasonably well.
On the console front, the Xbox 360 leads the category with 50 per cent of all users surveyed playing over the internet. Coming in at second with a dramatic increase in online participation was the Nintendo Wii, which saw an increase of 11 per cent for a total of 29 per cent.
Sony’s Playstation 3 also rose from fifth place in last year’s survey to third after it surpassed the last generation PS2, which subsequently had a dramatic fall in online usage.
The report has also outlined a changing trend in the average age of online gamers. According to the results, gamers aged 13-17 have recorded the largest increase, achieving a growth of five per cent to 22 per cent overall. But on the other hand, gamers aged 18-34 and 35-54 decreased over the period.
Anita Frazier, industry analyst at The NPD Group commented that “these shifts indicate that online gaming may have become more appealing to 13 to 17 year olds compared to last year.”
“Online gaming is enjoyed by a diverse group of players. The sheer variety of content and ease of access makes online gaming attractive to a much larger demographic than what we typically see in retail,” she said.
The report also outlined that Xbox 360 and PS3 owners are downloading more content than owners of other systems, but overall downloads have decreased since 2008. To counter this, the report suggests manufacturers should focus on releasing expansion packs, which are the most popular of all gaming downloads.