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US gamer population: 170 million - NPD

Industry research group's segmentation finds over half of all Americans play games; "Console Gamers" top 32.9 million, so-called "Extreme Gamers" clock nearly 40 hours a week.

For decades, baseball has been called "the American pastime." However, a new report from the NPD Group indicates that a majority of American citizens currently indulge in one common leisure activity--playing games.

NPD's just-released 2009 Gamer Segmentation Report dissects the US gaming market in depth, drawing on responses from nearly 21,000 people taken during a January survey. Using statistical sampling, the study estimates the domestic number of gamers increased by 4.3 million in 2008, going from 165.5 million to 169.9 million. According to the most recent estimate from the Census Bureau, the US population was just over 304 million in July--meaning around 55 percent of Americans play games in one form or another.

The research firm went on to break down the US gaming population into seven groups, four of which use both PC and non-PC platforms. The biggest group makes up what NPD calls "Secondary Gamers" (33.6 million), mostly female gamers who play less than four hours a week and don't own a console. The fastest-growing segment was the mostly male "Console Gamers" (32.9 million), who own at least one or two dedicated gaming machines and play around 12 hours per week. Next up is the shrinking "Heavy Portable Gamers" group (30.0 million), who own at least one portable and are the youngest group, with an average age of 19. The smallest section is the so-called "Extreme Gamers," whose gaming habit takes up nearly as much time as a 40-hour work week.

Though it does not lump them into a single category, NPD estimates that some 67.3 million Americans use the PC as their primary gaming platform. Up slightly at 25.9 million were "Online PC Gamers," a mostly female group who spent 73 percent of their eight hours of weekly game time online. The country's 17.3 million "Avid PC Gamers" were the most hardcore PC segment, playing 23 hours a week. Finally, "Offline PC Gamers," totaling 24.1 million, were the polar opposite of their online cousins, spending 82 percent of their time playing unconnected to the Internet.

Those wishing to purchased NPD's 2009 Gamer Segmentation Report can find out how on the company's official Web site.

217 Comments

  • mgs16925

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 2:19 pm GMT

    If games are mainstream it just means they aren't exclusively geeky anymore; it doesn't mean the majority of people are geeks. There's still a big difference between someone who plays games and a Gamer. Consider that if your grandmother plays flash games a few hours a week ("does not own a console"), she would be counted in this number.

    BTW, why the random time percentages? Why is it 73% online to count as 'mostly online' but 82% off for 'mostly offline'?

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 3:17 am GMT

    @yman173 - It's not that people don't look at gamers as geeks anymore. It is just that now there are 170 million of them in the US alone, so being a geek is now the norm. And those who looked at us from a "negative angle" can think what they like but they will never be free in the way that we are. After all, we are proud to do absolutely anything we choose whereas those people are restricted in life by their own fear of social acceptance. I pity them and am proud to be a geek.

  • yman173

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 8:08 pm GMT

    Its about time gamers were considered a part of the mainstream. Used to be that anyone who gamed more than 10 hours a week was a "geek" and looked at in some negative angle. Its obvious that everyone's doing it now, so us 40+ hour a week gamers FTW!

  • xdude85

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 2:41 pm GMT

    Now that's a lot of gamers.

  • Megavideogamer

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 1:30 pm GMT

    I'm a "Standard" Console gamer, 15 hours a week.

  • Somini

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 12:06 pm GMT

    I'm both proud and ashamed of being one of those +40hrs/week gamers, depending on who asks, lol... Too bad that it's so hard to earn a salary on this "job".

  • swamptick

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 10:47 am GMT

    I sell games for a living running multiple locations. There are more gamers now. No doubt.

    That is a good thing.

  • LithuanianGamer

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 10:36 am GMT

    Female gamers are sexy

  • Ohaidere

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 10:04 am GMT

    How much of that counted stupid flash games via myspace and facebook?

  • MechaRPG

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 9:48 am GMT

    I play at least or more than 84 hours per week thats 12 hours per day, im an extreme gamer to the limit... sadly i don't have a trophy from any gaming tournaments

  • starduke

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 8:25 am GMT

    I'm an Avid Extreme Offline PC, Console and Heavy Portable Gamer, aka a Super Gamer!

  • jadefury27

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 8:20 am GMT

    As a father of one, and a gamer since atari 2600, i manage about 16-20 hrs a week of gaming. i'd classify myself as slightly hardcore.

  • jadefury27

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 8:17 am GMT

    a person who only plays chuzzle on yahoo games at work is not a gamer. a person familiar who can name games by kojima, iga, and cliffy b. would most likely be. this is not an accurate study by any strech. anyone who sinks at least $50-$100 per month can be classified as a gamer.

  • wahyudil

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 6:56 am GMT

    what they call for people who sometimes play less than 6 hours a week, but in the other day they can play to 40 hours a week?

  • BATTOSAI76

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 5:38 am GMT

    Can we really call a lot of these people gamers, no not really, hours spent playing dose not make you a better gamer, it's what you know. I have an uncle who has a wife and two kids and not much time to game, but he has a great knowledge of the gaming industry. As compared to a friend of mine who plays all the time, and wouldn't know a good game if it came up and smacked him on the forehead. As for me I play quite a bit, but I know one thin no matter how much I play, I will always be a hardcore gamer.

  • skeeterbutt

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 4:45 am GMT

    I'll be 60 years old in October this year, and have been PC gaming since 1989. I am retired and I game more than I watch TV. I thoroughly enjoy gaming and put in many hours a day. From what I hear it is good for coordination; eyesight; reflexes and mental stamina. It's a very entertaining escape from boredom and mindless Television viewing

  • mestguy321

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 3:44 am GMT

    @pwn123 Posted Aug 3, 2009 3:15 am PT "anyone who plays more than 15 hours a week has a problem. hell, i play 6 hours a week on ps3 and thats enough for me. i mean how bored do you have to be to just play wow all night. its kinda sad."

    I detect jealousy from someone with no job who can't pay to play...oh well.

  • joynul

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 3:40 am GMT

    women online pc gamers?
    they should ban hannah montana online lol

  • pwn123

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 3:21 am GMT

    "Up slightly at 25.9 million were "Online PC Gamers," a mostly female group who spent 73 percent of their eight hours of weekly game time online."

    They must be talking about those losers on second life. FAIL.

  • pwn123 posted Aug 3, 2009 3:15 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    pwn123

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 3:15 am GMT (hide)

    anyone who plays more than 15 hours a week has a problem. hell, i play 6 hours a week on ps3 and thats enough for me. i mean how bored do you have to be to just play wow all night. its kinda sad.

  • weezyfb

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 2:48 am GMT

    hardcore

  • andrew_ribbons

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 2:36 am GMT

    Unequivical proof that game developers need to concentrate on PCs again with adequate marketing, to generate decent return on their projects. I own a 360, but i only buy a game new if it's something i'm desperate to own, such as i did with Fable 2, Halo 3 and Mass Effect. Others i buy once discounted. With PC i always buy new, because they are only ever at most £30 each, more commonly £25 these days, whereas console games tend to be around £40.

  • unknown2007

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 12:44 am GMT

    depending on my interest level within the video game. i usually clock in about 10 hours 5 days a week..weekends i steady so there's not much gaming after friday...but considering most games take 2 straight days to beat anyway. my gaming schedule isn't set that high...especially nowadays with the limited selection of suck ass games. with the exception of prototype which is pretty awesome. among some other RPG's i have already finished.

  • Jettero-Heller

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 11:35 pm GMT

    @d3emondav3 Heh heh. Well I always thought it was a little excessive myself but I was being a little sarcastic towards the arcticle. As in "Hardcore" not as cool as "EXTREEEME" seeing as how 40+ hrs is the new "Hardcore" =0
    Not really THAT much when you consider roughly 5 hrs a day X 7 days = about 30 - 35 a week.

  • d3emondav3

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 11:17 pm GMT

    @Jettero-Heller
    Wow man, 30 + hours a week! You need help if you don't think you're hardcore.

  • Jettero-Heller

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 11:12 pm GMT

    I keep it to a realistic +/-30 hours a week so I'm not hardcore enough to be "EXTREME". Except for Oblivion. That freaking game cost me my last job.

  • punkpunker

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 10:38 pm GMT

    if i play solitare, does that count as a gamer???

  • d3emondav3

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 9:53 pm GMT

    I think 5-8 hours in a week is more than enough. But in the summer, I usually let all hell break loose on my gaming schedule

  • Xcite79

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 7:31 pm GMT

    The more mainstream gaming is then the more games are safe under the constitution.

  • okassar

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 7:12 pm GMT

    =o That's more than half the U.S population.

    I would really like for those numbers to be accurate,but I don't know...maybe the consider anyone who even buys 1 game to be a gamer.

  • Mister__Awesome

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 6:49 pm GMT

    Video games have been a part of my life since i was a kid, and the way my parents taught me to balance it has made me a great gamer, hopefully this goes for all my other gamers out there as well.

  • lanmanna

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 6:28 pm GMT

    Looks like I'm a console gamer.

  • maverick_76

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 5:56 pm GMT

    I usually get 10-20 per week during the Summer, 5-10 during the school year. Some days though I can play for like 5-8 hours if the game is really fun but those are very few and far between.

  • shootingrobot98

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 5:25 pm GMT

    I just play video games for the experience, so therefore I usually don't play more than 8 hours a week. But then again, just about everybody I know plays video games. Even so, 170 million?! That's almost half the total population of the U.S.!

  • Jack-Du-Ripper

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 3:19 pm GMT

    @tomtomwolfwolf

    its a survey, pirates are included. this is players not purchasers

  • Dante2710

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 2:36 pm GMT

    im surprised, i though the pc gaming user-base would be smaller than that in the US

  • checampbell

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 2:12 pm GMT

    there's no link between obesity and hard-core gaming.......at 40 hours+ you aint got time to eat !

  • GoldenRamoth

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 2:11 pm GMT

    mrklorox..

    I don't think they just mean actual games, like bioshock, or age of empires.

    I think they're referring to facebook and other flashgames and whatnot.

    I know most of my girl friends like to play them, as well as my mom and sister. they spend a ton of time playing them.

  • mrklorox

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 2:05 pm GMT

    "Up slightly at 25.9 million were "Online PC Gamers," a mostly female group who spent 73 percent of their eight hours of weekly game time online."

    Wow... This should be proof that people don't answer these surveys honestly. Well, either that or the titles for the groups are way off.

  • CRS98

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 1:11 pm GMT

    I fit somewhere between "Console" and "Extreme" gamer. If I were to have online, like I used to, that would be pushed dedicatedly to "Extreme".

  • Lightsyde

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 1:10 pm GMT

    Most surveys are made up on the spot. 40hrs a week? When I'm so ill I can't play for long, maybe.

  • cockneyscouse

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 12:52 pm GMT

    Pft. 40 hours a week, I can do that in a day

  • topsemag55

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 12:46 pm GMT

    I love games and gaming. It takes stress away.

  • godzillavskong

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 11:57 am GMT

    What do the 40hr a week gamers do in their downtime? Play games?

  • Jackc8

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 10:55 am GMT

    Sounds like they're counting every old foggie who played a single game of solitaire on their PC as a "gamer" lol.

  • TheHunt3D

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 10:14 am GMT

    40+ hours is not that unusual, I know someone who clocks up 50+ hours in Half-Life 2 deathmatch alone! Don't know we she get all that time though.

  • Vkain

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 10:08 am GMT

    @HollowDarkstar, a no life group, hahahaha made me laugh. I think those are the extreme gamers.

  • lancerhawk

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 9:48 am GMT

    good too know. it still "feels" like gamers are still a minority. damn jocks.

  • 24k_Solid_Gold

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 9:07 am GMT

    pogswarts - "I would like to know how they got all of this information."

    ...they got it through a survey...that's what they just said.

  • pogswarts

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 8:11 am GMT

    40+ a week is a little crazy since I played like less than 20 in two weeks. I would like to know how they got all of this information.

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