With iconic superheroes, action-packed first-person shooters and fast-paced sports action, today’s video gaming industry is certainly not short on energy or flash. And given the hype around many of the industry’s most-anticipated game franchises, it’s easy to lose sight of the genres that don’t have a popular brand like Marvel or Madden promoting them—as well as who’s engaging with them.
Simulationsspiele - eine Superkategorie des immersiven Gameplays, die es den Nutzern ermöglicht, Aktivitäten in der realen Welt zu simulieren - bewegen sich naturgemäß in einem anderen Tempo als Rollenspiele, Abenteuer und Sportspiele, aber sie sind bei vielen Spielern in einer wichtigen Gaming-Demografie beliebt: der LGBTQ+-Community. Die Nielsen-Umfrage 2020 Games 360 ergab, dass LGBTQ+-Spieler auf allen Plattformen deutlich häufiger Simulationsspiele spielen als ihre nicht-LGBTQ+-Pendants.
As video games and digital channels remain at the forefront of the modern entertainment experience, it’s clear that the gaming industry should continue innovating to keep audiences engaged and online. Given the LGBTQ+ community’s penchant for simulation games, the industry stands to gain by amplifying its efforts in this sub-genre. According to SuperData, a Nielsen company, the simulation game audience accounted for 13% of the U.S. games audience last year and accounted for $1.5 billion in revenue.
In addition to gravitating more frequently to simulation games, LGBTQ+ consumers are younger (33 vs. 44) and more likely to have a gaming system (54% vs. 44% [non-LGBTQ+ consumers]) than the general U.S. population. They also spend more money on video games each month ($13.14 vs. $10.40) and amplify their experience along the way, as they’re much more likely to own a specialized headset for media/music than the general population (29% vs. 19%) and continue the conversation online via gaming social media platforms like Twitch and Discord.
While the video game industry has been growing steadily in recent years, it’s been among the industries best suited for the new normal that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has forced on consumers. With a shift toward life online, a Nielsen study found that 82% of global consumers were passing the time at the height of shelter-in-place restrictions earlier this year by playing video games and watching video game content. And the increase was highest in the U.S. (46%), followed by France (41%), the U.K. (28%) and Germany (23%).
Now, eight months into living in a pandemic, many of our media behaviors have largely normalized, while the gaming industry continues to adapt to a more virtual world—a world where games have become a place to hang out with friends, see a concert and participate in other communal experiences. That increased engagement is good news for the games industry, as worldwide digital game revenue was up significantly in March, April, May and June of this year on a year-over-year basis.
Und wenn wir uns die Ausgabenabsichten ansehen, zeigt die Nielsen-Umfrage 2020 Games 360, dass LGBTQ+-Spieler mehr Geld für Geräte und Dienste ausgeben als die Allgemeinheit.
Wichtig ist, dass die COVID-19-Pandemie die Videospielbegeisterung dieser Gruppe nicht beeinträchtigt hat. Daten von Nielsen Scarborough vom September 2020 zeigen, dass LGBTQ+-Haushalte mit 25 % höherer Wahrscheinlichkeit eine Spielkonsole besitzen als die allgemeine US-Bevölkerung und mit 91 % höherer Wahrscheinlichkeit den Kauf einer neuen Konsole in den nächsten 12 Monaten planen.
While Americans’ media consumption has been trending up in recent years, there’s no mistaking the early spring spike brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest Nielsen Total Audience report found that Americans now spend 12 hours and 21 minutes with media per day, which is up nearly an hour from the previous year. As the U.S. prepares for the colder fall and winter months, many will turn to media options as social distancing remains the safest way to stay healthy. And if the options are there, many in the LGBTQ+ will be in search of simulation options as they seek to get their gaming fixes.
