Today’s gamers play everywhere and at all times during the day, says Peter Driessen*. They might start on their smartphones while commuting to work, continue on their desktop or laptop during the day, and go on playing on their tablets at home in the evening. With iPads and other mobile devices becoming cheaper and more widespread, and their users seeking out more opportunities to play games, in-browser gaming is exploding. In response, game developers are improving the in-game experience on these devices, and as such, people are tending to play less on consoles. Looking further ahead, it’s inevitable that more devices will develop to support this growing area and browser or app-based games will draw in the mass market as they offer the easiest entry point into gaming.
The first things we need to do is – particularly when talking about gaming from an advertising perspective –make the distinction between casual and hardcore gaming. Casual games hold the most interest for brands as hardcore gamers do not want to be distracted while playing their games. We define casual gaming as any game where the only equipment a user needs is a browser and an Internet connection. Casual gaming is typically used for short bursts or snack moments of entertainment and stress relief.
Despite huge growth in this area, gaming is still seen by marketers as having a niche audience. However, July metrics from comScore showed that of the entire online population of 1.6 billion people, on average 703 million – or 44% – play online games. This percentage is only going to grow as online gaming content becomes more readily available, Internet penetration increases and gaming-compatible mobile devices become even more prevalent.
Furthermore, online games cross both gender and age divides and recent metrics from the Netherlands National Gamers Survey conducted by Newzoo show that there is only one demographic where gaming didn’t have over 50% penetration, and that was men over 50… but even that segment saw 45% penetration.
And gaming sites produce better ROI for online advertisers. A report by MediaBrix shows that video ads associated with gaming sites generate an average CTR of 3%, which is roughly 30 times higher than the that of standard online advertising campaigns (0.10%) and Facebook ads (0.03% to 0.11%).
Essentially, gaming sites are producing better engagement rates with online advertising than other entertainment sites because the audiences are both more engaged and because they are spending more time on site.
Across our platforms, we’re seeing an average session time of around 30 to 40 minutes. Compare this with the average news site where around 80% of visitors are on site for less than five minutes, or even YouTube, which claims an average visit time of around 15 to 16 minutes, and it’s clear why gaming sites have the edge.
People tend to be in a positive and relaxed frame of mind on gaming sites and this makes them more responsive to advertising. And video ads, of course, work particularly as the format is so similar to the gaming environment.
Online casual gaming is now the mass-market media of the day, with broad demographic appeal. With access to a wide range of free browser- and app-based games which are increasing in quality on an almost daily basis, tablets and other mobile devices offer advertisers the perfect opportunity to exploit this rapidly expanding market at scale and to reach a powerful community that is much more than just teenagers locked in their rooms.
* Peter Driessen is the co-founder of Spil Games
Spil Games will be speaking at brand-e’s GAME ON: Engaging consumers with online play event in London later this month