A new press release issued this morning by The NPD Group paints a rosy picture for the gaming industry in the United States, pointing out that engagement is significantly up in terms of participation, time, and spend. According to the NPD's 2020 Evolution of Entertainment report, four out of five U.S. consumers have played at least one game in the last six months. Additionally, the total time spent gaming went up 26% year-over-year while total consumer spend increase even more by comparison (33%).
The growth is apparently consistent across all platforms, although mobile devices still registered the largest growth, likely because almost everyone has access to a smartphone these days. Even so, gaming consoles also saw 'notable increases', according to the NPD.
Interestingly, this does not just apply to traditional segments such as younger consumers. Even adults that are between 45 and 54 years old registered a massive increase of 59% in time spent gaming, while their gaming spend jumped by 76%. Much the same can be said about the user group of consumers between 55 and 64 years old, as those increased the time and money spent on videogames by 48% and 73%, respectively. Lastly, even people who are over 65 years old played 45% more and spent 29% more this year.
Of course, this isn't entirely surprising due to the multiple lockdown measures instituted worldwide in order to apply social distancing against the COVID-19 pandemic. We've been covering record sales and figures all year long, and many companies have claimed they've seen lots of new gaming users brought in by the circumstances.
Mat Piscatella, video game industry analyst for The NPD Group, stated:
This year, video games is one of the most consistent growth categories in terms of overall participation and investment relative to 2019. This may simply reflect an acceleration of trends that were in effect prior to the pandemic. If this is the case, then the gaming market could experience continued growth without a post-pandemic pullback. If not, however, we may see a post-pandemic valley before returning to growth. It all rests on engagement.
Do you think gaming will continue its rise as the biggest entertainment medium? Let us know in the comments below.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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