A new survey of 207,500 North American mobile gamers conducted by in-game advertising experience platform Monetizr is challenging demographic stereotypes. Players over 43 — Gen X and Boomers — represent 43% of gamers on the platform. Notably, they outnumber both Millennials (born 1981-1996) and Gen Z and younger (born 1997 or after) on mobile.
Moreover, mobile players are nearly evenly split by gender. Females represented 51% of mobile gamers surveyed.
“This type of engagement presents advertisers with an extraordinary opportunity,” said Andris Merkulovs, cofounder and CEO of Monetizr. “In today’s dynamic advertising landscape, brands are directing their attention towards the significant opportunities presented by the $90 billion mobile games ad market.”
According to Monetizr’s data, there are 3.2B mobile players worldwide. This makes mobile gaming one of biggest media channels globally. However, it’s not clear if these demographic trends apply to markets outside of North America.
Brands looking to reach North American players through in-game advertising will have to keep this demographic profile in mind. By reaching the greatest number of gamers, mobile players look more like average consumer demographics than players on other platforms. This allows a larger selection of brands to reach their desired target audience, but refining by genre is critical for success.
In-game advertising attitudes
Of the 207,500 players surveyed, 3,000 also weighed in on in-game advertising practices. This smaller group was demographically representative of the full panel.
In the context of free-to-play games, very few mobile gamers said they would stop playing if shown an ad (15.68%). Conversely, 44% of players said they would continue playing.
While ads are not likely to turn players off of F2P games, they have diverse tastes when it comes to in-game ad placements. Nearly half (49.28%) of these consumers said that the placement of ads didn’t significantly impact their gaming experience. The remaining players showed a slight preference for ads seamlessly woven into the gameplay (26.17%) compared to distinct from it (24.55%).
In addition to highlighting the need for a number of ad formats, Monetizr’s survey also underscores the importance of rewarding players. About 45% of players said they would be willing to redeem real-world rewards or discounts.