Tween girls, or those ages 8 to 12, doubled their game playing time per month in the past year, from 38 minutes a month to 78 minutes, according to a new report from Spil Games.
The report sheds new light on a key demographic group that has become more and more engaged with games with the rise of mobile devices and casual web sites.Tween girls control about $260 billion in spending in the U.S.
The three most popular games on Spil’s girl-related site are cooking, dress-up, and quiz titles. Android phones are becoming increasingly popular among tween girls, accounting for 46 percent of mobile sessions.
Hilversum, Netherlands-based Spil Games has 170 million worldwide users across three major brands. Its U.S. tween site, GirlsgoGames, has more than 7.6 million monthly active users and it was the source of the data. Girls enjoy interacting with the community and they create more than 88,000 pieces of content a day.
For girls, gaming is inherently social, said Floris Jan Cuypers, vice president of corporate development and external communications at Spil Games, in an interview with GamesBeat. They enjoy creating avatars and dress-up outfits. Girls focus on being creative, cultivating friendships and engaging with a community of fans. They play most often on Friday through Sunday, between the hours of 3 pm and 7 pm.
The main sites for girls in the U.S. are GirlsgoGames, Club Penguin, Barbie.com, Kizi.com, and Stardoll.com. According to the report, the top celebrities for girls are Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Angelina Jolie, Miley Cyrus, and Jennifer Lawrence. On GirlsgoGames, the most popular game is Pet Party.