• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, June 1, 2006

comScore Networks announced the first-quarter results of "The Players" study, finding that game sites reach almost 50% of the Internet universe, representing 76.9 million consumers in April 2006, up from 71.6 million in April 2005.

The Players research found that

• 25 percent of Gamers are Heavy Gamers, playing 16 or more hours per week across any gaming platform, or playing 11 hours or more per week on two or more platforms
• 75 percent of Gamers are Light/Medium Gamers, those that play less than 16 hours per week on one platform
• 17 percent of Gamers are in the hard-to-reach age group of 18-24 years old
• 23 percent are in the advertising sweet-spot age segment aged 35 to 44 years old
• 20 percent have an annual income over $75,000 per year
• The typical Gamer has been gaming for about 9 years, has been online for about 8 years
• Gamers are equally split along gender lines

Gamers are also avid Web users, spending more than twice as many hours online per month versus the norm (53 hours per month versus 24 hours for the average Internet user). Additionally, Heavy Gamers go online more frequently during the month, averaging 24 days compared to the average Internet user who typically goes online 17 days per month.

According to the survey, more than 50 percent of Heavy Gamers and one-third of Light/Medium Gamers are at least somewhat familiar with the concept of in-game advertising i.e. the contextual placement of brands or products within games.

35% of the Heavy Gamers disagreed with the statement "these ads interrupt my play and bother me". Importantly, nearly half of heavy Gamers felt that in-game advertising was an inevitable part of the future of their play. When asked if the ads would make them consider buying the product or service, heavy Gamers were actually more receptive than light/medium Gamers.

When asked about their attitudes towards games with advertisements, only 15 percent of Heavy Gamers claimed they would be "unlikely" to play games that included such product placements

Erin Hunter, senior vice president of comScore entertainment solutions, says "Gamers are networked and vocal about what they like and don't like, and the results of comScore's study reveal that the vast majority of Gamers are not bothered by in-game advertising."

For more details about this study, visit comScore here.