Mobile Devices Knock PCs Out Of Kids’ Gaming Hands

Fast forward to today where phones are a lot more engaging due to their ability to surf the web, listen to music, watch videos, and play games, things are different. “This type of insight is invaluable to anyone engaged in marketing video games to kids”. But those days seem to be long gone.

The NPD Group has recently published a report (via CNET) that shows that 2-17 year-olds in the United States are playing more games on phones and tablets than on consoles.

Mobile devices are now the number one gaming platform among kids between the ages of 2 and 17, according to Kids and Gaming 2015.

The decrease in children playing on consoles was less than the drop seen for using computers, and video game consoles remained popular in the nine to 11 age group, according to NPD.

The reasons for favoring mobile devices over PCs could be numerous. But PC sales and demand have been on a downturn the past few years as smartphones and tablets have become go-to devices. But the time spent by kids actually playing on consoles is flat as more of them pick up a mobile device to get their gaming fix. Meanwhile, only 45 percent of kids use computers to game on.

The largest and most surprising shift in the 2015 gaming ecosystem was kids’ move away from the computer. Of these, the youngest kids – those aged 2 to 5 – are the most likely to play games on mobile devices. What did change, however, was kids’ engagement and time spent on these devices. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all have reasons to worry, too.

Two years ago, consoles were used by 67% of children as compared to 63% on mobile devices.

The report also dives into the amount of money spent in the past three months.

Physical games still attract the highest average spend at $27. Mobile devices continue to gain ground with 41 percent saying that they are spending more time on these devices than a year ago, and the average time spent per week climbing to 6 hours.