Gaming's reach growing in Europe

Sean Dromgoole, CEO of GameVision and Some Research, took to the stage at today's Edinburgh Interactive Festival to talk through some recent findings that highlighted the huge and growing popularity of gaming in Europe.

Dromgoole's research focussed on the 289 million people over the age of six in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. According to his figures, of these people, 66 million are active gamers, 14 million are "lapsed" (haven't played in the last few years), and 24 million are "non-buyers" of games, but still play.

Dromgoole said that the PlayStation 2 still has the lead in the region with 22 million owners, but there are also 21 million gaming PC owners and 20 million Nintendo DS players. Of the current-generation home consoles, the Nintendo Wii is way out in the lead with 11.3 million people owning the console, while the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are bringing up the rear with 4.9 million and 4.8 million owners respectively.

But the most interesting statistical analysis came from the growth areas of the industry, which are female and older gamers. There are 165 per cent more male gamers now than there were at the start of 2005, but the number of female gamers has gone up 196 per cent in the same period. Dromgoole says women and girls are eschewing games that are popular with men, such as FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer, with their top three brands being The Sims, Tetris and Brain Training.

Console ownership figures also show an interesting trend: 54 per cent of Wii owners are male, while the DS is the first gaming device to be female-led in the marketplace with a 56 per cent female ownership, according to Dromgoole.

Dromgoole also split the market into five key demographics: marginals, dabblers, loyalists, magpies and hardcores. Marginals are limited-interest gamers, and they're looking forward to games such as The Sims 3 and enjoyed Wii Fit. The dabblers have more of an interest in regular gaming, and are more likely to be interested in GTA IV than marginals. The loyalists and magpies are two sides of the same coin, both playing a lot of games, but loyalists sticking to key franchises such as Resident Evil and magpies snacking on many different games rather than always picking up the latest iteration of their favourite series. Hardcores want it all, with as much interest in playing Wii Fit as GTA IV and the upcoming Fable 2.