EEDAR: US Gaming Led by Mobile, Followed by PC, Console Gaming

[Raevenlord]

A new report from EEDAR paints quite a rosy picture for PC gaming: much rosier than what most users would think it to be. That mobile gaming is the platform king is no secret: anyone and everyone seems to be rocking a smartphone these days, and every smartphone has a myriad of games available that are so easy to consume that practically everyone with a smartphone (particularly an Android one) qualifies as a gamer. The interesting bit comes in the result that PC gaming is ahead of console gaming in gamers' minds and usage.





The EEDAR report states that in total, about 67% of US residents are gamers in some capacity. Of those, and in a sample of 5,000 active US gamers, 90% of American gamers play games on their smartphones or tablets. And 59% of those mobile American gamers play console and/or PC games in addition to mobile games. All in all, PC gaming accounts for 52% of the gaming intentions of the surveyed subjects, and only 43% reported gaming on console hardware. Seems the PC gaming market has booming - as well it should: that's one of the reasons so many companies launched gaming-focused product lines, after all.



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[StrayKAT]

Yes, lets count all of the housewives playing Candy Crush as gamers.

 

[Deleted member 178884]

Yes, lets count all of the housewives playing Candy Crush as gamers.

They fall under the "super gamers" category I presume ?

 

[Vayra86]

Yes, lets count all of the housewives playing Candy Crush as gamers.

Well, they are. We started with Tetris and Pong.. I mean...

If developers find a format that this group really likes, they have a massive potential market.

 

[Deleted member 178884]

We started with Tetris and Pong.

Tetris and Pong over candy crush any day

 

[StrayKAT]

Well, they are. We started with Tetris and Pong.. I mean...

If developers find a format that this group really likes, they have a massive potential market.

Pong was a proof-of-concept/test run for actual games (although at least it's based on an actual game.. tennis/pong.. that's actually challenging).

Tetris is legit. Have you ever played Candy Crush? It practically lets you win.

 

[Vayra86]

Pong was a proof-of-concept/test run for actual games (although at least it's based on an actual game.. tennis/pong.. that's actually challenging).

Tetris is legit. Have you ever played Candy Crush? It practically lets you win.

I did and it gets pretty damn hard. My girlfriend has climbed up the 'path' a fair bit further than I managed to, and if I look at that...

 

[StrayKAT]

I did and it gets pretty damn hard. My girlfriend has climbed up the 'path' a fair bit further than I managed to, and if I look at that...

I never got far enough where it's challenging. It's almost insulting really.

 

[Hood]

Yes, lets count all of the housewives playing Candy Crush as gamers.

Don't forget solitaire - mine plays that constantly, but can't figure out how to email on her phone (or her laptop), can't do a simple Google search without using voice assistant and saying it 10 times to be understood, instead of typing 3 words.

 

[R-T-B]

Yes, lets count all of the housewives playing Candy Crush as gamers.

I mean sadly, it's a game. What would you call what they are doing? Working?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Don't forget solitaire - mine plays that constantly, but can't figure out how to email on her phone (or her laptop), can't do a simple Google search without using voice assistant and saying it 10 times to be understood, instead of typing 3 words.

Not everyone is tech-savvy. Most casual games are very easy to use/understand, thus their appeal.

 

[StrayKAT]

I mean sadly, it's a game. What would you call what they are doing? Working?

It's not work or games, but just a massive "participation trophy" for being there. They're getting pretty "You Win!" level screens for just barely playing. That's why I think it's insulting.

A game to me is just.. pattern recognition. Which I guess it has. But it's not very inventive about it.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Yes, lets count all of the housewives playing Candy Crush as gamers.

Games are games regardless of platform.

Whether anyone wants to believe it, or admit it, the fact is Android and iOS are the biggest gaming platforms on the planet. The numbers talked about in this article are easy to understand.

 

[StrayKAT]

Games are games regardless of platform.

Whether anyone wants to believe it, or admit it, the fact is Android and iOS are the biggest gaming platforms on the planet. The numbers talked about in this article are easy to understand.

Read what I said above. About pattern recognition. I don't care where it's at. I just care what it's doing. And that's not what's always popular on those platforms.

edit: It's the same reason I don't consider MMOs games.. for the most part. Because many rely on just rewarding rote actions. It sucks that you only really get some patterns with the enemies at Raid levels in WoW. That should have been there from the start.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Read what I said above.

I did.

About pattern recognition. I don't care where it's at.

All games are about pattern recognition. Think about it. The only variations are the types of pattern recognition and the difficulty level.

 

[StrayKAT]

I did.

All games are about pattern recognition. Think about it. The only variations are the types of pattern recognition and the difficulty level.

Well the "fun" of a game is the frustrating bit where you can't figure out the pattern. Any game gets boring the minute you do (unless it relies on some funny gimmick.. then you stick around a bit longer).

I'm by no means a badass gamer.. but Candy Crush doesn't tap into this at all for me. Maybe it's a "casual" thing.. since I knock MMOs too.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I'm by no means a badass gamer..

Maybe not, but based on the statements and impressions you've expressed elsewhere on the site, my guess is that you fall into the serious gamer group. Not hard-core, but gaming is a hobby you seem to take seriously enough.

but Candy Crush doesn't tap into this at all for me. Maybe it's a "casual" thing.. since I knock MMOs too.

That's really more preference than anything else. Some people only like the kind of games that fall into the "Casual" genre.

 

[StrayKAT]

Maybe not, but based on the statements and impressions you've expressed elsewhere on the site, my guess is that you fall into the serious gamer group. Not hard-core, but gaming is a hobby you seem to take seriously enough.

That's really more preference than anything else. Some people only like the kind of games that fall into the "Casual" genre.

I think they'd like more if they knew about it or were walked through it a little. Or if these games had a steeper level climb (like Tetris vs Candy Crush). Even Bejeweled is a bit better than this.

 

[Prince Valiant]

What's with the hideous color choices in the second image .

 

[AltCapwn]

Come on guys, Gamers definition is ; a person who plays video games or participates in role-playing games.

Candy Crush is a video game so yes they're gamers. What does it change and who cares?

You're not only gamer, you're PC Gamer. Know your difference. You think people on PC are better? There's tons of casual gamers on PC too play solitary, fortnite, call of duty, whatevar.

Anyway, glad to see people like PC more than console. PC = Freedom.

Cheers,

 

[Manu_PT]

Come on guys, Gamers definition is ; a person who plays video games or participates in role-playing games.

Candy Crush is a video game so yes they're gamers. What does it change and who cares?

You're not only gamer, you're PC Gamer. Know your difference. You think people on PC are better? There's tons of casual gamers on PC too play solitary, fortnite, call of duty, whatevar.

Anyway, glad to see people like PC more than console. PC = Freedom.

Cheers,

Tell me more about how many of those pc gamers have a laptop for daily workflow. Ofc only aaa gamers buy consoles. Now tell me how many ppl playing pes, fifa, battlefield or mortal kombat online on steam/origin and tell me console numbers.

 

[StrayKAT]

Come on guys, Gamers definition is ; a person who plays video games or participates in role-playing games.

Candy Crush is a video game so yes they're gamers. What does it change and who cares?

You're not only gamer, you're PC Gamer. Know your difference. You think people on PC are better? There's tons of casual gamers on PC too play solitary, fortnite, call of duty, whatevar.

Anyway, glad to see people like PC more than console. PC = Freedom.

Cheers,

I'm not cool with it, because the more these reports come out, the more it can shift the direction of the market. What if companies started taking this seriously? Goodbye to actual games on platforms I care about. Or at least, goodbye to the attention.

edit: Hell, that's already happening. I've already waited twice as long for another TES game to release as before. But in the meantime, Bethesda thinks they can hold their core fans off with things like TES Online, Elder Scrolls Legends, and yet another mobile game (Blades) coming out soon.

This isn't the best example, since of none of these are as bad as Candy Crush.. but still.

 

[deu]

I think a lot of people here asumme that some apps are a games because they make use of gamification to entice the user to spend more money and time on the product. A 'real' game have elements of gameplay that require skill; the 'games' that is basically just acknowledging that the player is paticipating is is by alot of schoolars not defined as 'gameplay' thus raising the question if you can have a game without gameplay.

 

[R-T-B]

I'm not cool with it, because the more these reports come out, the more it can shift the direction of the market. What if companies started taking this seriously? Goodbye to actual games on platforms I care about.

I think it's rather amusing you think a minority group using a label being "cool with it" has any bearing on how the statistics are actually measured and the definitions constructed... sorry. We don't have the weight to throw around here, and if you think companies are going to ignore statistics, nope.

gamification

That'... a new word. Thanks. It's already in use too. Learn something new everyday.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Finally acknowledgement that there's different demographics of gamers that shouldn't be grouped together (because 67% of the population plays video games).

Also, the descent in console gaming is not surprising because the market is due for new consoles. If the next generation of consoles doesn't cause a surge past PC again, then consoles are truly reaching their end of the line--killed by phones/tablets. It's not coincidence that Switch was basically a tablet with Nintendo trademarks.