Are you an "avid omni gamer"? Maybe you are, and you just don't know it. The number of "avid omni gamers," or gamers who regularly play video games on multiple platforms, such as mobile phones as well as consoles, is growing, according to tech-industry analysis firm NPD Group. NPD said avid omni gamers were the only gaming demographic to actually increase so far this year in the United States.
The increase is largely due to more people playing games on mobile phones, NPD said. According to the firm's figures, 71 percent of U.S. gamers now play games on mobile devices, up from 67 percent last year.
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Other groups, such as "casual gamers," "core console gamers" and "family gamers," remained more or less the same size in 2014, NPD said. Meanwhile, both "avid omni gamers" and "free and mobile gamers" said they played most of their games on mobile phones. NPD's findings show that mobile devices, long maligned by so-called hardcore gamers, are a force to be reckoned with in terms of getting people playing games.
Some other interesting tidbits from NPD's findings: PCs are the console of choice among "casual gamers" and "social gamers," but not "core gamers." Among "core gamers" as well as "family gamers," it's the console (Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo). Sorry, PC diehards.
Gamers are now spending more time and money on games than last year, too: an average of $48 on physical games and $16 on digital games in the past 3 months. In 2013, the averages were $45 and $11, respectively.
The survey polled 6,606 US residents aged 2 and older (parents answered on behalf of young children) via an online survey this past April.
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