Tapjoy's network boasts around 450 million total consumers, and recently surveyed same to find out more about just what kind of audience it was serving. The results were telling to say the least, with 71 percent coming in as older than 25, and 65 percent don't even think of themselves as gamers. What's more, this clearly older crowd is also packing some serious revenue, making over $50,000 in the entire household on average and playing just three hours of games in a week. What's more, half of the survey enjoys multitasking, particularly when it comes to playing games while watching television. Action and adventure games were most played, followed by puzzle and trivia titles and strategy and simulations to round out the top three.
Given that fully $16 billion is spent on mobile games every year, understanding the market is extremely important in terms of figuring out what kinds of games get made, and how said games are marketed. Moreover, information like this will prove very valuable to advertisers, who want to know just who's playing before making critical spending decisions about advertising on game platforms. In this case, there's quite a bit of value for marketers.
Not only is the reach sufficiently impressive to catch any marketer's notice--450 million total customers is no small pool--but the baseline is sound as well. High household income, stable profile, older folks who are discovering the fun of a quick game of "Bejeweled" or "Angry Birds" or the like all add up to a clear picture that these are worthwhile targets to advertise to. There are several markets that would consider such a demographic crucial, everything from cars to real estate to investment planning to breakfast cereal and beyond, so to ignore this platform where so many worthwhile advertising targets are would be potentially disastrous for anyone marketing in this field.
The funny part here is that the gamers in question are at least 25 years old, yet don't consider themselves gamers. It's possible that, while they don't today, they may have at one time. After all, a 25 year old would likely remember the early days of Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox, or potentially even farther back. Those in their thirties, meanwhile, may even remember eight-bit Nintendo and beyond. These people have likely grown up with video games, and so it's not surprising to see that carry on into their older years. The aging gamer market is one that many marketers may well want to consider, and one that may have some new applications that some haven't yet considered. Tapjoy, meanwhile, likely already has.
