The Entertainment Software Association in collaboration with the NPD research group, has released their 2011 issue of Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry.
According to the research results released by the ESA, more women (42 percent) and adults 18 and older (82 percent) play video games than ever before. Women age 18 or older represent more than one third of the game-playing population.
The report also highlighted the growing popularity of digital interactive game content, with purchases of digital full games, digital add-on content, mobile apps, subscriptions and social network gaming accounting for 24 percent of industry sales in 2010, compared with 20 percent in 2009.
The report also found that parents see a number of positive benefits of gameplay for their children and family. Sixty-eight percent of parents believe that gameplay provides mental stimulation or education; 57 percent believe games encourage their family to spend time together; and 54 percent believe that gameplay helps their children connect with friends. Fifty-nine percent of parents believe that video games provide more physical activity now than five years ago, a nod to the industry’s increased development of active-play games.
Parents also remain highly involved in their children’s gameplay by monitoring game selections and playing with their children. Parents are present when games are purchased or rented 91 percent of the time, and children receive their parents’ permission before purchasing or renting a game 86 percent of the time. Forty-five percent of these parents also report playing games with their children at least weekly, an increase from 36 percent in 2007.
Among the range of insightful statistics contained in the report is a breakdown of the most popular gaming genre’s by genre, divided into console and PC gaming.
| Best-selling console game ‘super genres’ by units solds in 2010 | |
| Genre | Market share (%) |
| Action | 21.7 |
| Sports | 16.3 |
| Shooter | 15.9 |
| Family Games | 9.1 |
| RPG | 7.7 |
| Adventure | 7.5 |
| Racing | 5.8 |
| Casual | 5.2 |
| Strategy | 3.8 |
| Fighting | 3 |
| Other, Compilations | 2.7 |
| Children’s Games | 0.7 |
| Flight | 0.4 |
| Arcade | 0.2 |
| Best-selling PC game ‘super genres’ by units solds in 2010 | |
| Genre | Market share (%) |
| Strategy | 33.6 |
| RPG | 20.3 |
| Casual | 19.5 |
| Shooter | 9.7 |
| Adventure | 8.7 |
| Action | 2.7 |
| Flight | 1.5 |
| Other, Compilation | 1.4 |
| Sports | 0.9 |
| Children’s Games | 0.9 |
| Racing | 0.6 |
| Arcade | 0.1 |
| Family Games | 0.1 |
View the full report – Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry 2011
The top selling video game genres << Comments and views
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‘Action’ is a collective genre including smaller genres such as ‘Shooter’, ‘Fighting’, etc. Why are ‘Action’, ‘Shooter’ and ‘Fighting’ being compared to each other?