Total number of US gamers drops in 2012

The total number of US gamers has seen a significant reduction in 2012, according to an NPD report.

USA Today reports the group’s Gamer Segmentation 2012: The New Faces of Gamers report estimates there are currently 211.5m gamers in America, a five per cent decline from 2011.

The report specifies six type of gamers, and the only ones to show an increase were the mobile (up 22 per cent) and digital (up 15 per cent) segments. Mobile games represent the largest type ahead of core gamers.

Given the long lifecycles of the current consoles and the increasing installed base of smartphones and tablets, it’s not surprising to see a slight decline in the Core Gamer segment,” explained NPD analyst Anita Frazier. It’s the revenue contribution of the Core Gamer segment that continues to outpace all other segments, and remains vital to the future of the industry.

While this study segments the gaming audience based on a number of key variables and attributes, looking across the total gaming audience we see a tremendous impact from mobile gaming, particularly on smartphones and tablets. Because of this, our next study, which will be released later this month, takes a deeper look into the area of mobile gaming.”