Preteen Gamers Upend Traditional Media Consumption, Says SuperData's Carter Rogers

Carter Rogers principal analyst at SuperData a market research company focused on digital games and related media took me through the study and revealed the trends he saw as well as some surprises from the data quotWe went through a lot of effort to make sure this was a proper study on preteensquot Rogers says noting that SuperData joined Nielsen about a year ago quotto augment its research in the game spacequotThe research had two parts an online survey of 1000 US parents of preteen gamers and inperson focus groups with 100 preteens ages 7amp821112 years old in the New York City area with an even gender skew The focus groups in particular quotwere really neatquot Rogers notes quotbecause many previous studies have interviewed the preteen39s parents instead of the kids which may not give a clear picture of what the children are actually up toquotRogers highlighted five key areas from among the findingsA Social Ecosystem One of the big study takeaways was that preteen gamers are using the gaming environment as a social ecosystem quotPreteens really like socializing in games They play online with friends but they don39t just jump onto a game play for five minutes and then leave They want to use these games as virtual hangout spacesquot The top three games for preteens at this time are Roblox 33 percent Fortnite 26 percent and Minecraft 24 percent all of which preteens use as virtual hubs quotA lot of the younger players are using gaming as a social network to hang out with friends in gamesquot he saysAwkward CommerceAnother takeaway is the commerce aspect of gaming quotA lot of preteens ask their parents to spend on cosmetic items In Fortnite these are called skinsquot Rogers explains quotWe found that generally it is very difficult for preteens to spend in games It is really an underaddressed audiencequotHis contention is that in digital games purchasing is conducted online only and is creating quotawkward systems where the preteens give their parents cash that the parents originally gave them in their allowance the parents give the preteen their credit card and then the preteen uses the credit card to make a purchase in the game It is confusing for parents and a hassle for preteensquotDevices MatterMultiplatform play is very important In the past the big games were predominantly played on a console quotbut you couldn39t have some of these big games so world dominating and such phenomenal successes if all games were still on a consolequot Rogers says quotWe39ve found that mobile is a gateway device for these younger preteens Fiftyfive percent of 7 to 9yearolds are playing games on tablets compared to 27 percent of 10 to 12yearolds Consoles are very very popular among these older preteens Seventysix percent of those preteens play on a console compared to 54 percent of 7 to 9yearoldsquotRoblox Fortnite and Minecraft are available on multiple devices so quotpreteens with only access to a smartphone which often belongs to their parent can still play with their friends who might be playing on a PlayStation 4 or on a TVquotDifferent Levels of EngagementThere are very distinct groups of preteens in gaming according to Rogers quotThe younger gamers tend to play on smartphones and tablets and aren39t really engaged in gaming in the way that some of the older players arequot Older preteens are highly engaged and aware of specific happenings in the gaming industry such as any new titlesAs the study revealed gaming habits tend to shift around ages nine or 10 interestingly coinciding with greater migration to consoles that seem to offer a more immersive engaging experience for the gamer quotPreteens go from playing casually on a phone to the much more dedicated gaming around age 10 gaming more on a platform deck at that pointquotPerception of Popularity is VitalMarketers should take note The way preteens find out about games is online via websites such as the Amazon streaming platform Twitch or YouTube quotWe found that among preteens 78 percent of 10 to 12yearolds watch gaming video content as do 67 percent of 7 to 9yearoldsquot And they will definitely take game recommendations from people onlineRogers recommends that game developers quotappeal to these tastemakers because if an influencer says that a game is not cool anymore that really influences preteen attitudes It is more important for a game to be perceived as 39popular39 than it is for a game to develop a new concept to keep it fresh Perception of popularity is very importantquotLooking ForwardAlthough this is a new study there are ways to ascertain trends for both game developers and marketers For one the lifecycle of games is getting longer This means that preteens may be playing these games well into their young adult years and that the games themselves according to Rogers quothave a much longer revenue tailquot Many of these games are being built to quotallow for usermade contentquot he adds quotThey can make their own environment and share it with a friend This can impact the gaming industry for many years to comequotThe extended content life means that brands need to use a more holistic approach to reach this valuable audience The very nature of the content requires that brands appear inprogram and via crosspromotion in games and not as traditional commercial spotsSo the main takeaway from this seminal study Media and brands need to be creative nimble and prepared because gaming content consumption is different from traditional video content consumption This novel way of viewing brands39 content is establishing new behavioral norms in the consumers of tomorrowClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Preteen Gamers Upend Traditional Media Consumption, Says SuperData's Carter Rogers

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Charlene Weisler

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Charlene Weisler

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