Survey: Casual gamers disproportionately disabled

Casual games have received a lot of press in recent years for their ability to reach nontraditional gaming audiences like women and the elderly. Now casual publisher PopCap Games is touting casual games' appeal with another often-unconsidered group, disabled gamers.

PopCap commissioned an April survey of casual gamers and found that more than 20 percent of respondents reported having a physical, mental, or developmental disability, as opposed to just over 15 percent of the general population in the latest US census data. More than 2,700 disabled gamers responded to the survey and offered a glimpse at why and how they play.

For one thing, the survey found that disabled casual gamers are more hardcore than their abled counterparts, playing more often and for longer stretches at a time. As for why they play, 94 percent said they believed gaming produced physical or mental benefits, while 11 percent of respondents said they had casual gaming recommended or prescribed to them by a physician, psychiatrist, physical therapist, or other medical professional.

The most frequent benefits reported for those with physical disabilities were stress relief and distraction from their ailments. In the case of gamers with mental disabilities, they most commonly reported stress relief and mood lifting benefits. For those with developmental or learning problems, improved concentration and coordination were the two most oft-cited benefits. Across the board, 77 percent of disabled casual gamers said they reap benefits beyond those experienced by nondisabled players.

However, there are some commonalities that seem to be shared by casual gamers regardless of disability status. Disabled gamers' taste in games "closely mirrored" those of their abled counterparts, with their favorite game categories being puzzle, word and trivia, and arcade games, in that order.