Where Have All the Gamers Gone?

**Slayer** · 09-09-2012

In a widely-publicized posting earlier this week, respected market-research firm NPD reported that there are an estimated 211 million people who play video games in the United States, down 5% from last year. This means 12 million people stopped playing games at some point in the last 12 months. That’s, like, the entire population of Illinois.
A lot of people have been scratching their heads about those 12 million people, looking at the detail of the analysis released by NPD, vaguely gesturing towards a number of theories, puffing their cheeks out. Who are they? Where are they?
But the first stat that needs investigation is that overall number of 211 million.
The population of the United States is 311 million, according to the U.S Census Bureau. This means, allegedly, around two-thirds of people in America play video games.
Now, I spend a lot of time around the kind of people who play video games, I live in an affluent, tech-savvy part of the country (Santa Cruz, CA). But even I would not, under any circumstance, be able to claim that 67% of the people I encounter in everyday life play video games. This number just seems way too high.
I spoke to analyst Michael Pachter on the ‘lost 12 percent’ stat. He remarked, “It’s the big number that I don’t like, and so if you go from one crazy number to another, what does it matter?”
To be clear, NPD deals with statistics, and it understands numbers and polling data a whole lot better than you or me. Also, it serves an extremely useful function for gaming, offering up monthly and annual data on packaged games and console sales. This isn’t an attempt to besmirch NPD’s good name, so much as a sideways glance at the weirdness of these particular statistics.
Anita Frazier, analyst at NPD, told IGN, "We found that 67% of the population reports being a gamer, which does translate to 211 [million] based on current population figures." NPD's press release states that over 8,000 people on its panel were polled online.

Read alot more: IGN

**redspart1** · 09-09-2012

Well I think that the price of the games is what is stopping people from playing. I mean a 60$ price tag or a Car payment.

**Sully** · 09-09-2012

The cost most likely has a great toll on this and quality of games have gone down. I would assume that most of the people who quit playing were those of Call of Duty.. which obviously has started going downhill since MW2. Obviously there are other games that are widely played and are still good but when games get repetitive and cost the same price people stop buying.

**Colbyy** · 09-09-2012

I am one of those people. Video gaming is just shit now.

**Seras** · 09-09-2012

And maybe because people like me have be at work and have no more time for video games.

**ModioHomeBasic** · 09-09-2012

Hell the kids finally grew up and actually started attending school for once! (or they got a job to pay for there debt from buying so many)

**bigtimer5** · 09-09-2012

For me, I still play games. However there has been a significant decrease in the average quality and ingenuity of each game, so why should I spend $60 or take the time to pirate something that looks like I've played before?
Plus I have work, school (actually getting challenging now), girls, and parties to tend to. I'm sorry but now 2 hours of Arkham City has come close to being as awesome of 2 hours of a few bong rips with my friends followed by helping a teenage girl disappointing her father. I still appreciate the medium but when it's so genericized, it become hard to enjoy it and to actually want to indulge in it.

**Wolves** · 09-09-2012

You have to realize they are also talking about mobile games, facebook games, free games, and every single gaming source known. And while price is a huge issue, Im sure they were talking about free games to.

**Slayer** · 09-09-2012

Originally Posted by Wolves

You have to realize they are also talking about mobile games, facebook games, free games, and every single gaming source known. And while price is a huge issue, Im sure they were talking about free games to.

I realized this when I read the article before posting.

That's why at the end of the thread I said "Read alot more...".

**Blood** · 09-10-2012

I've personally lost interest in most games it's the same reason I started modding them in the first place, I was trying to spice things up.
With all motivation to play them is gone I don't see a point in buying more.

But that's just me I also feel like the industry is shifting around a lot and no one knows that they want.