Don’t bother installing Minecraft on the desktop or hooking up the Xbox 360 to the TV! Kids increasingly want to play their video game on smartphones and tablets, according to a new report released earlier this week by researchers from the NPD Group.
According to Engadget, the report found that 63 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 17 were using mobile devices or tablets to game, while just 60 percent were playing on consoles like the Sony PlayStation 4 or Nintendo Wii U (a decrease of seven percent in just two years).
The popularity of PC gaming experienced an even more drastic decrease, falling from 67 percent in 2013 to just 45 percent this year. The decline in computer gaming was most pronounced in the 2 to 5 year old age bracket, VentureBeat said. Kids were also found to spend a greater amount of time gaming on smartphones and tablets, averaging six hours of playtime per week.
“The largest and most surprising shift in the 2015 gaming ecosystem was kids’ move away from the computer,” NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement. “In the past, the computer was considered the entry point for gaming for most kids, but the game has changed now.”
It’s all about portability these days
Callahan and his colleagues are not positive why this shift away from computers and consoles and towards mobile devices is happening, but he said that it may be “related to a change in the behavior of parents… utilizing mobile devices for tasks that were once reserved for computers.”
Engadget also pointed out that smartphones and devices allow children to play while their moms and dads check out Facebook or watch Netflix on other devices, and also enable young gamers to play their favorite titles while they’re not at home. VentureBeat also suggests that the “easier and more intuitive” nature of Android and iOS games make them attractive to young kids.
CNET also reported that the NPD Group study found an increase in the amount of money spent on digital games over the past three months, from $5 to $13. Twenty percent of gamers said that they spend more on microtranscations than they did a year ago, and the study found that boys are spending more for games on average than girls ($54 compared to $36).
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Feature Image: Thinkstock
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