Tween’s Playing Online Games Like Never Before

Tween’s playing a video game. Most of them do on a regular basis.

In 2007, when children’s marketing research firm KidSay asked boys what virtual worlds or online games they had visited in the past two weeks, 35 percent of boys aged 8 to 11 replied “none.”

In 2010, when M2 Research asked a similar question, they found 91 percent of boys and 93 percent of girls aged 8-11 are playing games online on a regular basis.

That’s a big increase.

Here are some other statistics from the M2 Research Report.

1. Social Networking: Social Networking is increasingly prevalent in children’s lives. Facebook is now the favorite website among tween (8-11) boys and teen (12-15) girls.

2. Key Demographic and “Sweet Spot”: Online games dominate for boys and girls ages 8-11. 91% of tween boys and 93% of tween girls play games online.

3. Nintendo Dominates Handheld Gaming Space: But thanks largely to the iPad and iPhone, Apple is becoming a significant player especially with girls.

4. Portable Platform Discrepancy: Sony’s PSP has largest gender discrepancy. 17% of teen girls play games on the PSP compared to 44% of teen boys.

5. Strong Videogame Franchises: Franchises continue to flourish at the top of the “Favorites” list for boys and girls. The videogame franchise girls prefer is the Mario Series, with 20% of girls picking it as their favorite.

Check out the article ‘Tweens,’ ages 8 to 11, changing online game development

And check out M2 Research’s blog entry on the report Kids and Games: What Boys and Girls are Playing Today

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