50+ Gamers

On October 4th, 2006, a study took place in which games leader Pop Cap Games & Regulations conducted a survey. Of the estimated 150 million consumers who play family-friendly, non-violent games or word puzzles on the computer on a regular basis, almost half are age fifty or older. Among these 50+ players, 74% cited cognitive workouts (a.k.a mental excercise), 86% confirmed noticeable stress relief, and 62% claimed memory strengthening. As an added benefit, 32% of gamers age 50 or over acknowledged a distraction from pain or fatigue while immersed in such game play. One in ten subjects said they derived actual pain relief while actively playing. Of the 2,200 consumers who took part in this survey, 47% were age fifty or over, and an estimated 19% were over the age of sixty.

Segmentation Analysis : Older vs. Younger Casual Game Players
Older game players have distinctly different veiws of when, how much, and what kind of games they play when compared with younger participants. 50+ gameplayers enjoy casual games more frequently and for longer periods of time in contrast to their younger counterparts. 65% of players over fifty admit to playing games on a regular (even daily), basis compared to less than half of younger players. 31% of older players engage in over ten hours of video or computer games a week in comparison to 25% of younger players. When asked the usual time of day they interact with games, the more popular response (23%) for 50+ players was in the morning before they begin the day. Only 16% of juvenile gamers were in agreement. Both older (49%), and younger (52%), gamers commonly played on weekday evenings.

Motives for 50+ Gamers
Older gamers cited reasons for game playing more often than their younger counterparts. Distraction from chronic pain/fatigue (32% vs. 23%), memory strengthening (62% vs. 55%) and cognitive exercise (74% vs. 73%) were among the benefits voiced more frequently by 50+ players. Furthermmore, when asked to choose the single most important reason for playing, those age 50 or older chose entertainment significantly less than younger players (16% vs. 21%). Overall, 86% of older survey respondents confirmed that they felt playing casual games offered them frequent physical and/or mental health benefits, compared to 74% of respondents under fifty.

"I am in my fifties and I use casual word and puzzle games on the computer as well as recommending them to my patients", comments Dr. Carl Arinoldo, a Stony Brook NY-based psychologist of 25 years and an author and expert on stress management.
"I find that these types of games are wonderful as a stress management tool, while at the same time providing excellent cognitive exercise. " Dr. Arinoldo surmised that older players' motivation to play is influenced by a growing awareness of the importance of mental calisthenics for maintaining a healthy mind. While 50+ gamers may not participate in active gaming for entertainment, it can be assumed that older players realize the benefits of these casual games and puzzles more readily than their younger counterparts. Dr. Arinoldo agrees, "When you're 65 or 70 and you play a game of Bookworm or Bejeweled, you're more likely to identify improvements in your mental acuity that might otherwise go unnoticed by younger people".

Leisure Time Priorities
When asked to identify important leisure time activities from a list of nearly two dozen options, overall survey respondents picked playing casual computer games (75%) above any other choice. The survey included the option of reading a book, newspaper or magazine (73%), spending time with friends or family (70%), watching TV or movies (69%) or listening to music or the radio (57%). For older participants, watching TV or movies (68%) was the third most popular activity. Spending time with friends or family (65%) followed fourth, and listening to music or the radio (49%) took fifth among 50+ priorities. Among under-50 consumers the three most popular choices were spending time with friends orfamily (74%), playing casual computer games (73%), and both watching TV or movies as well as reading a book, newspaper or magazine tied with 71% each. On a related question, 16% of survey respondents age 50 or older chose playing casual computer games as their most important leisure-time activities, compared with 10% of younger respondents.

Game Preferences
As the last part of the survey, gamers were asked to define their preferred types of games. The results showed a drastic difference between 50+ and 50- game players. Only 18% of subjects 50 or older selected simple action games as one of their genre preferences, while 50% of respondents under the age of 50 chose simple action games as their genre of choice. Likewise, 17% of under50 survey respondents signified simple simulation games such as Railroad Tycoon as a genre they enjoyed, while only 4% of those 50 and older chose that category. However, 57% of older players listed card games as their preferred game genre (e.g. solitaire or card games for multiple players), compared to 46% of those under the age of 50. Puzzles (87%), Arcades (69%), and Word games (58%) were the top three genre choices among younger survey respondents, while the top three choices among older respondents were Puzzles (84%), Word games (66%), and Card games (57%).

Survey Methodology
This international research was conducted by InformationSolutions Group (http://www.infosolutionsgroup.com/) on behalf of PopCap Games. The overall results are based upon online surveys completed by 2,191 randomly selected respondents, including 1,040 people age 50 or older. The survey occurred between the dates of August 11th and August 21st, 2006. Theoretically, in 19 cases out of 20, the results will differ by less than 1.9 percentage points, and +/- 2.9 percentage points of a sample of 1,040 consumers age 50 or older from what would have been obtained by seeking out and polling all PopCap.com visitors age 18 and over. Smaller subgroups reflect larger margins of sampling error. In addition to sampling error, other sources of error may exist. For example, variations in the order of questions or wording within the questionnaire may contribute to different results.

About PopCap
PopCap Games (http://www.popcap.com/) is the leading multi-platform provider of casual games: easy-to-play yet utterly entertaining and addictive brain food enjoyed by players of all ages and any gender. Based in Seattle, Washington, PopCap was founded in 2000 and has approximately 100 employees in its Seattle, San Francisco and Dublin offices. PopCap games have been downloaded more than 200 million times by consumers world-wide, and its flagship title Bejeweled has sold over 10 million units across all platforms. PopCap games are available for Web, PC, Mac, mobile phones, PalmOS and Windows Mobile PDAs, Xbox Live Arcade, iPods, in-flight on leading airlines, as scratch-off lottery tickets, and more. PopCap is the only casual games developer with leading market share across all major channels, including web portals, mobile phones, Xbox, retail,and PDA.

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