A Look At Mobile Game Behavior

How Do Women and Men Behave While Playing Mobile Games? Research from the Entertainment Software Association indicated that gaming culture has continued to evolve with a nearly-equal split between male and female gamers. How have gaming behaviours changed over time? Amazon and Harris Interactive teamed up to research how changing demographics with men and women specifically affect the mobile gaming world, and conducted a survey that investigates the different behaviors that  men and women exhibit while playing mobile games.

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“ No other sector has experienced the same explosive growth as the computer and video game industry. Our creative publishers and talented workforce continue to accelerate advancement and pioneer new products that push boundaries and unlock entertainment experiences. These innovations in turn drive enhanced player connectivity, fuel demand for products, and encourage the progression of an expanding and diversified consumer base”  stated Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO, Entertainment Software Association.

Amazon Appstore Top Survey Results:

Men are more competitive than women in mobile gaming.

Men who play mobile games are more likely to feel more competitive than their female counterparts when a friend or family member is better (e.g., getting better scores, beating the game more easily) at the game they play most often (53% to 45%, respectively).

Women are less social about their mobile gaming experience.

Women are less likely to share their top scores in mobile games than comparative men (43% to 53%), share screenshots of top scores with friends/family (6% to 10%), or complain about bugs/glitches (52% to 69%) in their favorite mobile games.

Women are leading the trend towards Free-To-Play (F2P).

Female mobile gamers prefer free to play games more than their male counterparts (84% to 77%), and are less likely to pay for a game (27% to 40%).

What should a developer do differently? According to the survey, developers can utilize this data as a tool to help them determine better ways to sell new games, fix existing problems, and encourage conversation about their titles. Developers should consider the balance of leaderboards and achievements within their games. For example, females may be more apt to work towards achievements as self-motivation vs. getting to the top of a leaderboard.  If developers have a game that they think is more female-friendly, it might make sense to publish it as F2P, given female preferences noted above. Developers may use the data as rationale to change their marketing strategies. If they have a female-focused game, and see that reviews aren’t really helping drive sales, they may want to allocate more marketing funds to another means of getting the word out for their title.