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Majority of Americans Play Games: NPD Report

This article is over 17 years old and may contain outdated information

An NPD survey shows a majority of Americans play videogames and that a majority within that set of Americans plays to relieve stress.

The NPD Group has released survey results showing that a majority of Americans plays video games, and that a majority within that set of Americans play to relieve stress.

Sixty-three percent of respondents reported playing videogames, about 40 percent of gamers saying they spent the same amount of time gaming this year vs. last year, and the rest split almost evenly between playing more and playing less.

The survey was based on responses from 5,039 members of NPD’s online consumer panel. It was conducted from October 11-18.

The NPD release noted:

In terms of demographics and gaming behavior, the heaviest gamers are typically male, ages 18-34, who devote relatively significant amounts of time and money to gaming and focus primarily on more “hardcore” genres, as opposed to casual, lighter games.

NPD official Anita Frazier assessed the report’s results in the following terms:

“The challenge for the industry is that consumers are a fickle group, and with the great variety of options pulling at their limited free time, they’re going to be easily distracted unless something really compels them to stay with gaming.”

Source: Kotaku.com

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