Millions Stop Playing 'Core' Video Games in the USA

According to the NPD Group, via USA Today, "About two-thirds of Americans, 211.5 million, play video games in the U.S. That's about 12 million fewer, a 5% decline, than last year."

Those are the stats: 12,000,000 fewer people are playing video games. However, "The number of mobile and digital gamers grew over 2011, while 2011's largest gamer category, core gamers, who focus on playing traditional console game systems, declined by 2%."

NPD industry analyst Anita Frazier commented, "Given the long life cycles of the current consoles and the increasing installed base of smartphones and tablets, it's not surprising to see a slight decline in the Core Gamer segment."

Breaking down the figures, NPD states that: The number of "Mobile gamers" increased byt 9% to make up 22% "of the gaming population."

There are also people that NPD calls "Digital Gamers", who primarily acquire games through free and paid downloads. Their numbers increased by 4% and now make up 16% of all gamers.

So, we figure that the 12,000,000 exiting gamers are using consoles and PCs. NPD says that the number of "Core Gamers" decreased by 2% to 21% of the gaming population.

Core Gamers are the biggest spenders. You would expect this due to low cost of mobile gaming and the no-cost (initially until microtransactions cut in) of F2P. According to NPD, 'Core Gamers' spent $65 on physical games in the past three months compared with $16 on digital games for PCs, consoles or portables over the same period.

Anita Frazier points out that, "It's the revenue contribution of the Core Gamer segment that continues to outpace all other segments, and remains vital to the future of the industry."

The move from Core is, however, highlighted by the fact that - says USA Today "Gamers are more likely to have spent money on downloadable content or in-game microtransactions than last year, with about 14% so vs. 11% in 2011. Core gamers (27%) and digital gamers (23%) were the most likely to buy digital content."

Like everybody else, it seems, Frazier thinks that new consoles will solve the problem, "There is so much change occurring in the industry, coupled with the aging console systems. I do believe new hardware systems will bring a much-welcomed stabilizing force and bring more gamers back to bigger gaming experiences."

Let's hope so, or it's tired MMOs and Angry Birds for all. As for that 12,000,000 number, we're still looking into it.