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FANDOM’S INSIDE GAMING REPORT UNCOVERS THE MINDSET & MOTIVATIONS OF GAMERS ACROSS GENERATIONS

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2 years ago

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Video game franchises have taken mainstream media by storm and gaming as a pastime is showing no signs of slowing down – its a hobby that has captured the cultural zeitgeist and crossed generational lines, and there’s no such thing as a ‘typical gamer’ any more. Now more than ever the industry needs to adopt a more nuanced and generational approach to game development & marketing in order to make a true impact with gaming fans.

Fandom’s Inside Gaming report couples Fandom’s robust, proprietary user data with a custom global study that examines how gamer motivations and behaviors vary by generation and provides a playbook for the gaming industry at large on how to truly understand the mindset of a gaming fan. The findings from the 2023 Inside Gaming report will help brands stand out in this increasingly crowded marketplace while giving them the tools to  identify, interact and more precisely connect with today’s gaming audience. This deep dive into the generational differences in gaming uncovered findings in three key areas:

  • Brand & Advertising Impact – examines generational motivations on gaming influence and intent to purchase, as well as which advertiser categories and specific brands are primed to make a huge splash with gamers

  • Gamer Motivations by Generation – explores the differences between major generational groups and their motivations & influence within the gaming space

  • Co-Gaming – highlights positive findings around gaming between parents & kids while also providing unique insights to fuel advertising strategies when aligning with families in the gaming space
KEY FINDINGS:

  • Over the past five years, engagement with gaming has increased across every demographic, platform, and genre – 45% of gamers are spending more time gaming than ever before

  • 80% of gamers of all ages are interested in playing games regardless of whether they are already fans of a franchise – which creates significant opportunities for content creators as they look to mine alternate IP for new gaming franchises

  • Despite teens and Gen Z spending more time gaming than they did last year, older generations of players are spending more hours per week gaming 

  • Building off that, Millennials are a key (and untapped) audience in gaming – 52% of Millennials rank gaming as their #1 interest

  • 75% of Fandom gamers eat and drink while gaming, making Food & Beverage a key non-endemic category for gamers

  • More parents and guardians are seeing benefits of gaming with their kids than ever before: co-gaming parents are +83% more likely to agree that gaming fosters leadership skills, +77% more likely to agree it teaches important life skills and +38% more likely to agree it establishes teamwork & collaboration

  • Top 5 games parents play with their kids are Mario (50%), Minecraft (48%), Roblox  (37%), Super Smash Bros (33%) and Kirby (32%)

 

“More than 150 million gaming fans come to Fandom and our 100K+ gaming communities each month, allowing us to unlock precise and unmatched insights about gamers across generations and platforms,” said Stephanie Fried, Fandom’s CMO. “These new insights into the behaviors, attitudes and perceptions of today’s gamers will enable marketers and studio leadership to drive better fan experiences and incremental revenue.”

 

The study uncovered huge opportunities for brands to more strategically tap into gaming audiences – namely in the CPG and QSR industries – and identified the generations that represent the biggest  untapped opportunity for marketers. Findings include:

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  • 86% of Fandom gamers are influenced to purchase a brand or product that invests significantly in the gaming space, and nearly half are heavily influenced to do so.

  • Millennials are the largest untapped target in the gaming space: 

  • 40% of Fandom’s Millennial audience spend over 22 hours per week gaming, compared to only 29% of tweens.

  • Influence to purchase brands that have investments in the gaming space gets stronger with age: Millennials are more than +24% more likely to be heavily influenced to purchase compared to the average user on Fandom.

  • 75% of Fandom gamers eat and drink while gaming, making the Food & Beverage industry one of the most influential outside categories for gamers.

  • Gamers are +71% more likely to be most inclined to purchase Caffeinated Energy Drinks that heavily invest in the gaming space, ranking highest among F&B categories.

  • Snacks, soft drinks, and “Heat & Serve” meals trailed with 58%, 42% and 39%, respectively.

  • Gaming-adjacent items are extremely important to the game-play experience: Fandom gamers rank high speed internet (88%) peripherals (i.e. mouse, keyboard etc.) (74%) and gaming accessories (i.e. gaming chair) (41%) as most critical to their gaming experience

 

There isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” approach to understanding and marketing to gaming audiences. Motivation and influence vary by generation, so it’s critical to understand the mindset of a gaming fan in order to make a true impact in the marketplace. Findings include:

  • Overall, 45% of gamers are spending more time gaming; and while Millennials are spending more time gaming per week, the biggest growth in overall time spent gaming vs last year was seen among tweens and teens, with 63% and 48%, respectively.

  • The top-ranking factors for trying new games are: (1) game quality, followed by (2) storyline & plot, then (3) design and visuals, suggesting that gamers across the board are looking for more immersive and engaging experiences.

  • Still, younger generations are more likely to be influenced by “cultural hype” while older audiences are more influenced by the immersive and deep characters and storylines.

  • This points to the importance of building strategies to cater to different audiences – building viral programs that lead to cultural buzz is key to aligning with younger audiences while building programs that allow players to immerse themselves in the universe & connect to the characters and storyline is key for older audiences.

  • The top-ranking overall motivations for Fandom gamers are:

  • Stress relief (48%)

  • Relaxation (47%)

  • Escapism (45%)

  • Younger generations of gamers are more interested in competitive gaming and making social connections, while older gamers gravitate more toward games with potential for intellectual stimulation.

  • Among gaming genres, adventure, sandbox, survival and fighting games are most popular with Fandom gamers of all ages.

  • Tweens, however, are most likely to play battle royal (49%), racing (46%) and survival games (39%); while millennials gravitate more toward MMO (41%), strategy (27%) and RPG (26%) genres, with games like Elden Ring or World of Warcraft.

  • The biggest drivers for Gen Z and Millennials are character and storyline, with rich and complex backgrounds; while younger gamers gravitate more toward competitive games, with an emphasis on coordinated teamwork.

 

 

 

 

 

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With the gaming industry booming, time spent gaming increasing, and gaming IP’s seeing huge success crossing over into TV and movies, gaming as a pastime is here to stay. Interestingly, the findings uncover benefits for parents co-gaming with their kids, as well as co-gaming motivations by age group:

  • Within the co-gaming ecosystem, gaming isn’t the only motivator for parents and their children. They also enjoy discussing strategy (47%) and research (37%).

  • Parents who choose to game with their kids do so for these main reasons:

  • As a fun activity to do together (56%)

  • Kids ask them to play (44%) 

  • Parents are avid gamers themselves and want to continue the trend (41%)

  • Age does affect behavioral motivations in co-gaming, particularly among parents with children aged 3-8 as they are +89% more likely to co-game in order to better understand the content of the games their kids are playing.

  • Parents of teens are +46% more likely to play games with their kids.

  • The top-ranking benefits of gaming for parents include:

  • Establishes teamwork and collaboration (33%)

  • Teaches important life lessons (26%)

  • Fosters leadership skills (25%)

  • The leading games for parents to co-game with kids 7-12 years old are Super Smash Brothers, Fortnite and Roblox.

  • Parents who co-game with their teenage children aged 13-17 play Rocket League, Cuphead and Splatoon.

 

Methodology:

The 2023 Inside Gaming report identifies macro-level entertainment patterns and trends based on a survey of 15,000 Global Fandom users. These insights were validated and deepened through Fandom’s robust user data – more than 350 million monthly unique visitors, 45 million pages of content across 250,000 wikis – and qualitative and quantitative insights from Fandom’s proprietary fan panel. This methodology provides a 360-degree view of what’s happening in the gaming landscape through the eyes of Fandom.

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Canada

Relax Gaming joins forces with PointsBet to strengthen footprint in Ontario

Published

2 weeks ago

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October 2, 2024

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Relax Gaming, the iGaming aggregator and supplier of unique content, has significantly enhanced its presence in the Ontario market through an agreement with leading Canadian operator, PointsBet.

This partnership reinforces Relax Gaming’s aim to become a standout provider across North America, having already gained early success in Ontario. Relax became one of the first suppliers to deliver content to the region’s players in March 2022, debuting with over 120 games across multiple operators.

PointsBet pride themselves as one of Canada’s leading operators offering unmatched speed, ease of use, and a comprehensive array of pre-game and in-play sports betting options. This is complemented by a top-tier online casino which will now be boosted with the integration of Relax’s portfolio of slots and live dealer options.

With its authentic Canadian approach, PointsBet prioritises technology that minimises external dependencies to maintain control over its platform and has a commitment to responsible gambling best practices, ensuring a safe and secure environment for all players.

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Martin Stålros, CEO at Relax Gaming, said: “Since we launched in Ontario we have enjoyed tremendous success, with our content hitting the sweet spot for the broad range of players in the Canadian province. This partnership with PointsBet will strengthen our presence in the market as the region’s leading operator integrates our rich content portfolio which will engage its player base.”

Scott Vanderwel, Chief Executive Officer at PointsBet, added: “Relax Gaming has established a strong reputation across North America and in Ontario in particular. The impressive range of content that will be integrated into our platform will increase engagement within our online platform and we are delighted to be able to provide more immersive experiences to our audiences.”

Established as one of the industry’s leading B2B suppliers, Relax Gaming was awarded GGA’s Product Launch of the Year in February 2023 for Dream Drop Jackpots. Money Train 3 names the 2023 CasinoBeats Game Developer Awards amongst its 6 Slot of the Year titles, while the brand also won the award for Skill Games Supplier at the 2023 EGR B2B Awards along with the Innovation in Mobile award at the 2023 SBC Awards.

Relax Gaming provides more than 4,000 online casino games, from its high-performing proprietary slots to a significant, varied library of content from hand-picked third-party studios via its partnership programmes.

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Canada

Jackpot Digital Receives Approval from the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority

Published

3 weeks ago

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September 30, 2024

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Jackpot Digital, a leading manufacturer of electronic multiplayer dealerless poker tables, has announced that it has received approval from the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) to act as a registered supplier of gaming supplies and services to regulated casinos in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

The approval follows the Company’s news release dated February 6, 2024, announcing the signing of a licensing agreement with the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) to install the Company’s Jackpot Blitz dealerless poker ETGs into SIGA casinos.

SIGA operates seven casinos and Playnow.com in Saskatchewan. At the outset, SIGA proposes to install Jackpot Blitz machines at its Dakota Dunes and Gold Horse Casino properties, located in Saskatoon and Lloydminster, respectively.

Jackpot CEO Jake Kalpakian said: “We are excited to receive approval as a gaming equipment supplier in Saskatchewan. This represents the first major jurisdictional, non-tribal license received by Jackpot during our continuing expansion into the land-based casino market. We have many more license applications underway in the US and other Canadian provinces, which will dramatically impact our ability to accelerate the rollout of Jackpot Blitz across North America.”

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Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation

Play Alberta, CSEC Extend Partnership

Published

3 weeks ago

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September 27, 2024

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Teams under the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) banner have expanded their long-term partnership with Play Alberta, the province’s premier iGaming destination. As part of the agreement, the Flames will feature AGLC’s responsible gambling program, GameSense, on their home helmets and a Play Alberta insignia displayed on their home jerseys. The Stampeders, Wranglers, and Roughnecks will integrate the Play Alberta logo onto their uniforms.

“There’s significant importance now to showcase meaningful responsible gambling efforts in the iGaming industry. I’m proud of our initiatives to provide GameSense with such a visible platform. GameSense promotes healthy gambling habits online and in person and including AGLC’s responsible gambling platform over the course of this partnership is a huge accomplishment,” Kandice Machado, Chief Executive Officer at AGLC.

The agreement makes Play Alberta the exclusive sports betting and online gaming partner of the Flames, Wranglers, Stampeders, and Roughnecks. Through the partnership, Play Alberta and CSEC will develop unique partnerships and in-arena giveaways during the season.

“Through GameSense, our partnership with Play Alberta equips our fans with the knowledge required if they wish to participate in gaming while they support their home team. We are both proud and excited to extend our relationship with Play Alberta that makes cheering for our teams that much more fun while also generating revenue to support the quality of life for Albertans,” said CSEC President and CEO Robert Hayes.

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Alberta is the first jurisdiction in North America to partner with professional sports franchises and integrate PlayAlberta.ca and social responsibility branding onto uniforms. It upholds AGLC’s commitment to responsible play, raising awareness of GameSense and Self-Exclusion, resources that give bettors the tools they need to make healthy gambling choices.

In addition, proceeds generated through the website go toward the province’s General Revenue Fund. In 2023–24, $235 million was generated for programs and services that Albertans rely on every day through Play Alberta, an increase of more than $42 million from the previous year.

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