The truth about games buyers: ratings don't matter

by Angus Kidman

Wednesday, 31 January 2007

The market for console and computer games remains dominated by young blokes, although games are slowly expanding their reach into female, family and senior audiences, according to new research. But forget about games ratings: while the majority of games sold in Australia are rated family-friendly, most gamers don't even pay attention to them.

A study commissioned by the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEEA) shows that gamers do still largely fit the stereotype of being young and male, with 59% of regular game players being male. The research, which covered 1,606 game-playing Australian households, found that the average age of gamers was 28, up from 24 two years ago.

More than 12.5 million computer games were sold in Australia in 2005, the IEAA said. The majority of games sold in Australia were rated either G or PG; the two ratings together accounted for 70% of all titles, according to the IEAA's analysis of classification date. Strategy games were the most popular genre, chosen by 34% of gamers.

However, 62% of those surveyed said ratings did not play a role in their purchase decision, and those figures did not change markedly even in households with parents. 20% of respondents could not identify the difference between the M and MA ratings assigned to games.

79% of Australian households have some kind of gaming device, according to the research, up 3% from the IEAA's last study in 2005. PCs were the most popular choice, used by 95% of respondents, while 59% played on a console and 19% on a portable device.

While the percentage of female gamers has increased to 41%, this remains well below the overall female proportion of the population. The IEAA proclaims females as the fastest-growing segment of the market, but this conclusion appears based solely on the increase in the overall number of women, rather than a detailed analysis of buying patterns for both genders.
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