There’s a new eMarketer  report Social Gaming: Virtual Crops Yield Real Profits that talks about the size of the growing social games market. It’s estimated that in the U.S. that the market will be worth $2.183 Billion in 2012:

• Direct paying users generated $340 Million in 2009, which is estimated to grow to $1.191 Billion in 2012
• Offers generated $324 Million in 2009, which is estimated to grow to $868 Million in 2012
• Advertising to players of social games generated $62 Million in 2009, which is estimated to grow to $124 Million in 2012

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) released it’s annual Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry covering the U.S. market, this week. You can download the report here. Some of the key points are below:

• The average game player is 34 years old
• The average game buyer is 40 years old
• 26% of gamers were over 50 in 2010
• 67 % of U.S. Households play computer and video games
• 62% of gamers play with others
• 40% of game players are female
• 48% of all games sold are rated ‘E’ for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board
• 64% of parents believe games are a positive part of their children’s lives
• 76% of parents believe that the parental controls available in all new video game consoles are useful
• 42% of Americans play games on wireless devices such as cell phones or PDAs

Women Are Gaming

A study from Q Interactive and Social Media World Forum of more than 2,000 women in November of 2009 found them actively engaging with brands as they partake in social media gaming. The report also states:

50% of U.S. women play online games according to Pew Internet

The online social-gaming market is expected to at least double from $720 million to over $1 billion by 2010 according to Think Equity

The study also establishes a picture of the typical woman engaged in social media games and applications:

• 85% of those surveyed use five or less games and/or apps regularly, indicating an inclination to be loyal to a handful of favorites; approximately 15% regularly invest in six or more games/apps at a time
• 57% are earning/spending virtual currency daily
• 74% got involved in a game or app due to a recommendation by family or friend or because they noticed a friend or family member’s score
• 95% utilize virtual currency primarily to gift and/or advance games
• In interacting with games and apps, 57% feel virtual gifting – for example, giving a bag of virtual makeup from Sephora – is as meaningful as real life gifting
• 97% of women prefer to earn virtual currency through either winning more or accepting a branded offer – versus paying for it with “real” money
• Only one in ten women have actually used “real” money to purchase virtual currency; of that, 85% have spent under $100 in their gaming and aping activities – ever
• Of women who have signed up for branded offers to get more virtual currency, 67% found the offer useful
• 37% of those women chose the branded offers based on “content”; 17% went for offers with free products or services

A follow up study in February, 2010  Q Interactive and Engage! Expo  revealed insight into the psychology of women who play social media games, the largest demographic of social media users. The study of over 700 women, about 54% of which play daily and 30% weekly, investigates a range of viewpoints around salient social media gaming topics. This is the company’s third recent proprietary research study from its “Women’s Channel.”

Of those surveyed, 42% consider themselves gamers and 7% deem themselves obsessed:

• For 67%, one to five hours per week is socially acceptable
• 26% feel six or more hours per week is socially acceptable.
• Nearly 45% of those surveyed have friends they consider obsessed with social media gaming.
• Approximately 16% of those surveyed hide or sometimes hide their gaming habits.

Over two-thirds of those surveyed believe there are stigmas associated with gaming. For those women, the leading stigmas are:

• Games are addictive (24%)
• Play makes you neglectful of other areas of your life (21%)
• Gaming is a waste of time (17%)
• Play at work is basically off limits: 93% of those surveyed share they primarily play at home versus work.

More than half of women surveyed, 54%, fear more games will make gamers pay in the future:

• If forced to pay, 77% would give up the game, while:
• 10% would prefer a monthly subscription or fee
• 10% would prefer a pay-as-I-go system
• 2% would prefer a separate payment scenario for each game played

Chris Sherman Founder of the Engage! Expo said, “…  moms and kids are both wired into social media gaming… however, mom… is actively supervising the time her kids play and what they spend”

• Overall kids (children under 18 years old) are connected: 16% of moms say their children have a smart phone.
• According to mom, 40% of kids are allowed to play daily, 37% weekly, and 10% monthly.
• Generally speaking, kids are banned from the wallet: 80% are not allowed to pay for social media gaming.

The February study is available here, and the November study is here.

According to a story in Adweek today, a new report by Deloitte estimates that:

• 58% of U.S. households owned a videogame console last year
• 44% of  U.S. households owned a videogame console in 2006

The story also states a significant decline in people that had played a game in the last six months. It would seem they haven’t heard of Farmville or somehow it isn’t being included considering the groups they cite with the greatest declines are the ones that have the greatest number of active social gamers. If the report is console focused, this would make sense since social gaming is creating new gamers, but also cannibalizing the time people have for console and other PC games.

According to the third annual Game Developer Census by Game Developer Research, which covers North American game companies, the games industry employed 44,806 people in 2009. This is an increase of 406 jobs over the 2008 estimate (44,400). Other key points include:

• Canada now employs 12,480 people in the games industry
• In 2008, Canada employed 9,500 people in the games industry
• California has 20,815 developers (46 % of the U.S. total)
• Washington has over 4,500 game industry employees
• Texas has over 2,600 game industry employees
• 8 states (California, Washington, Texas, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Florida, and Maryland) have more than 1,000 working game industry professionals
• Game tools companies, game contracting/services companies, external PR, marketing, legal, and other business services, and liaison or licensing divisions at larger media companies are not included in the census, however Game Developer Research estimates this number at around 18,000 across North America.

The’Game Developer Census 2009‘ has data on more than 700 game development companies in North America and is now available as a paid digital download for $2,495. Any questions about payment, delivery methods, or further licensing of the data can be directed to Game Developer Research at research@gdmag.com.

According to a release from IDC, there were more than 450 million mobile Internet users worldwide in 2009, a number that is expected to more than double by the end of 2013. Here are the highlights from IDC’s Worldwide Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast”:

• More than 1.6 billion people – a little over a quarter of the world’s population – used the Internet in 2009
• By 2013, over 2.2 billion people – more than one third of the world’s population – is expected to be using the Internet
• More than 1.6 billion devices worldwide were used to access the Internet in 2009, including PCs, mobile phones, and online videogame consoles
• By 2013, the total number of devices accessing the Internet will increase to more than 2.7 billion
• China continues to have more Internet users than any other country, with 359 million in 2009
• The number of Internet users in China is expected to grow to 566 million by 2013
• The United States had 261 million Internet users in 2009, a figure that will reach 280 million in 2013. India will have one of the fastest growing Internet populations, growing almost two-fold between 2009 and 2013.
• The United States has far more total devices connected to the Internet than any other country
• China is the leader in in the number of mobile online devices with almost 85 million mobile devices connected to the Internet in 2009
• The number of Internet devices in India, both mobile and fixed, is expected to grow commensurate with the number of Internet users
• Worldwide, more than 624 million Internet users will make online purchases in 2009, totaling nearly $8 trillion (both business to business and business to consumer)
• By 2013, worldwide eCommerce transactions will be worth more than $16 trillion
• Worldwide spending on Internet advertising will total nearly $61 billion in 2009, which is slightly more than 10% of all ad spending across all media
• Worldwide spending on Internet advertising is expected to reach almost 15% of all ad spending across all media by 2013 as Internet ad spending grows surpasses $100 billion worldwide

Our friends at GamesBeat has an article about a new NPD Group survey with some new demographic data on the U.S. games industry:

• 82% of kids 2-17 years old say they’re video gamers
• 55.7 million kids are playing games
• 9.7 million kids who are playing games are ages 2-5 years old
• 12.4 million kids who are playing games are ages 9-11 years old
• They play games 10.6 hours a week on average
• Kids use an average of 2.5 systems to play
• 51% of kid gamers play online, and online players are more likely to be 9-14 years old and male