The NPD Group has recently published a report (via CNET) that shows that 2-17 year-olds in the United States are playing more games on phones and tablets than on consoles.
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Some 63 percent of children in that age group play games on mobile devices such as smartphones while the share opting for play on home computers slid more than a fifth during the past two years to 45 percent, NPD reported. “The largest and most surprising shift in the 2015 gaming ecosystem was kids’ move away from the computer”, NPD analyst Liam Callahan said. In the past, the computer was considered the entry point for gaming for most kids, but the game has changed now that mobile has moved into that position. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all have reasons to worry, too. Why do you think more kids are using mobile devices to play games on rather than consoles or PCs?
Consoles saw a decrease in gaming as well, though not almost to the magnitude experienced on the computer. Older kids are most favorable toward traditional consoles.
The report tells a tale we’ve heard before: Mobile devices reign supreme. Interestingly, while girls are more likely to game on their mobile device, average spending on gaming apps is the same for boys and girls. In addition, PC sales have been on the decline as people choose to update their computers less often in favor of mobile gadgets. And while mobile gaming didn’t particularly increase, the amount of time that children were spending playing games on those devices did.
NPD’s online survey elicited responses from children ages 2 through 17, with one of their parents sitting with them to help complete the survey. Digital spend grew by $5 to an average of $13.
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Physical games still attract the highest average spend at $27.
