NPD: Gaming is Only the Fourth Most Popular Entertainment for Kids

IndustryGamers has received new data from The NPD Group's Kids and Entertainment Content report, which shows that 74% of kids ages 2-14 in the U.S. play computer and/or video games. The report looks at kids' consumption of entertainment content in general, and found that gaming is just the fourth most popular activity after watching TV, watching movies, and listening to music. That said, according to NPD's Entertainment Trends in America study from August '08, 61% of U.S. population ages 13+ play video games, so although kids are spending more time with other entertainment, gaming is still hugely important to them, more so than the late-teen and adult population apparently.

Digging deeper into the data, we see that of those kids ages 2-14 that do play games, almost as many play on PC as they do on consoles (71% PC vs. 77% consoles). This figure dips down to 48% for portable game devices and 24% for cell phones. In terms of ownership, physical content is still dominating despite the rise of digital content. 81% of games purchased by kids were physical (disc, cartridge, etc.) while 14% were downloaded on a PC and just 2% were downloaded to a video game system.

We assumed that PC gaming is as high as it is among kids because of the rise of free-to-play content such as social and casual titles and other easily accessible online games and virtual worlds. Although this is certainly a factor, it's not necessarily an overriding one, NPD analyst Anita Frazier told us.

"A large majority of kids playing games (via console and pc) are acquiring physical content, so there is purchasing going on still with PC games, and the report shows that there is a small percent of kids who have subscriptions to specific games. And they are downloading digital content as well. So while there might be a lot more free gaming happening than ever before, and I certainly see that in my house with the games my kids are playing online, there certainly is still spending happening on the PC gaming side of things. It's just happening differently than it used to," she explained. 

The bottom line for developers and publishers is that they need to be aware of how kids are spending their time. "I think folks in any particular industry tend to be so focused on their particular slice of the pie that it's helpful to take a step back and think about the total entertainment picture and what else kids are doing.  Publishers and device manufacturers aren't just competing with other folks in the industry, they're competing for kids' time and wallet share with television, movies, music and more.  The plethora of free content (games and otherwise) available via the internet is a huge factor to consider when mapping out future strategies and considering how to keep kids engaged," Frazier said.