Gamers spending more time gaming...duh?

A new study from information company The NPD group shows that online gaming is becoming ever more prevalent, and that gamers are spending more time, uh, gaming.

The survey conducted by the company was completed by 8,876 individuals. Of that number, 72 per cent of gamers in the US reported to play games online, an increase of almost 5 per cent from the survey conducted in 2012.

This was perhaps influenced somewhat by the rise in the amount of time spent gaming, as the average number of hours played per week went up by nine per cent, with online gaming going up six per cent.

An industry analyst from the NPD Group said the amount of time spent gaming is one of the key factors in judging the industry.

“Besides the size of the gaming audience and sales performance, one of the key metrics for the industry to watch is the time gamers spend playing games. This study found that the overall amount of time spent gaming, and time spent gaming online increased across virtually every type of device, and notably so, versus 2012.”

Unsurprisingly, the PC ranked as the most popular platform for online gaming as 68 per cent of people reported they use a PC for that purpose.

What is slightly surprising is that that figure has taken a four per cent decline since last year, while mobile gaming saw a massive rise of 12 per cent.

And although digital games are becoming the norm, 62 per cent of gamers still prefer to own their games in the physical format, which is not surprising in the least. The same industry analyst says digital content will continue to grow, however.

“While many gamers prefer games in the physical format, the increased availability of digital content paired with a greater amount of connected devices has driven an increase in the number of consumers going online to access the content they want.”

That may be the case, but nothing’s going to replace the excitement of opening up a new video game for the first time. Just sayin’.