PopCap Games, maker of some of the world's most popular video games, today unveiled the results of a survey targeting "social gamers": Consumers in the U.S. and UK who play games on social networking platforms such as Facebook® and MySpace®. More than 24% of respondents said they play social games regularly, indicating a total social gamer population of approximately 100 million in America and the United Kingdom alone. And contrary to prevailing stereotypes, the average social gamer is a 43-year old woman.

Among the nearly 5,000 consumers who responded to the survey, more than 1,200 play games on social networking sites and platforms at least once a week, qualifying them as "social gamers" for the purposes of the survey. Two-thirds of all qualified survey respondents are U.S.-based. 55% of all social gamers are female and 45% are male — with the disparity being even larger among UK consumers (58% vs. 42%). The average age of social gamers is 43, with U.S.-based social gamers averaging 48 years of age compared to 38 for those based in the UK. Further, 46% of American social gamers are 50 or older, compared to just 23% in the UK. Only 6% of all social gamers are age 21 or younger.

Gender Differences

As with most forms of video games, men and women differ in their consumption of, and attitudes towards, social games:

• Among the most avid social gamers, women make up the majority; 38% of female social gamers say they play social games several times a day, vs. 29% of males.
• Women are more apt to play social games with real-world friends than men are (68% vs. 56%).
• Men are more inclined than women to play with strangers (41% vs. 33%); nearly twice as many women as men say they play social games with relatives (46% vs. 29%).