Women are taking to the casual gaming environment in greater numbers than men. Among all female Internet users, 28% play games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars; men were 6 percentage points less likely to do so. Several other types of gaming, including offline and online console gaming and play in virtual worlds, were more popular with men than with women.
“Women are particularly attracted to short, casual games involving an active community like FarmVille, Cafe Wars or Pet Society,” said Tom Smith, managing director of Trendstream, in a statement. “Women also spend more time on social networks in general.”
Earlier research from PopCap Games also found women ahead in social gaming.
Q Interactive reported that 36% of female Web users played social games in January 2010. Slightly fewer than one-half of that group were used to seeing brands affiliated with the casual online games.
But from virtual goods to sponsorships, social games provide many opportunities for marketers to connect with players who now consider them an integral part of the social networking experience.
“The transformation of the gaming market towards casual social concepts has already changed the way that games are created and distributed,” Mr. Smith said. “The market is now much more open to anyone who wants to create games.
“This gives brands a huge opportunity to engage with consumers through casual games much more cost effectively than through other forms of advertising,” he said.
Posted via web from Emmanuel Vivier Lifestream : Buzz, Digital, Viral & social media marketing expert
