Girl Gamers

A study released today by 2009 UK National Gamers Survey shows the Britain has more online and console gamers than anywhere else in Europe. Of those polled, 73% said they regularly play games more than surfing the web or watching tv.

While the study found that young men between the ages of 13-19 spend 11 hours a week playing games, the findings also show that 86% of girls play games as well! They don’t clarify the age bracket for girls, but go on to say that 42% of people over the age of 50 say they enjoy playing games more than reading magazines.

The study also reveals that social games, like the ones on Facebook, have yet to take off in the UK with only 11% playing games on social networks.

According to Stephen Palmer, Group Director at TNS Technology, “Gaming has rapidly expanded in popularity and now appeals to as wide an audience as TV and the internet. In several cases, young and old are even moving away from traditional media and spend their free time playing games instead. The variety of games on offer has drawn in segments of the population that would not ordinarily be associated with gaming, which has turned the traditional view of the ‘gamer’ on its head. With the pressure put on media through advertising cuts, gaming is emerging as the forum through which to target consumers of the future.”

The 2009 UK National Gamers Survey is a series of surveys conducted by TNS and GamesIndustry.com in Netherlands, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Belgium.