Smartphones have enabled more kinds of people to start gaming, and women are showing that they have different habits when it comes to digital entertainment than men do.
Women, on average, spend more time and money on mobile games than men, according to a recent study from mobile-advertising platform Flurry. In fact, based on its examination of games that have more than 1.1 million players, Flurry found that women make 31-percent more in-app transactions than men. Women also spend 35 percent more time in mobile games. Women also tend to pick a game and stick with it. Female players are 42 percent more likely than men to still check into a game seven days after installing it. Figures like these go a long way toward explaining the popularity and money-making power of games like Candy Crush Saga and the recently released Kim Kardashian: Hollywood
“While the fact that females invest more time in gaming apps, especially in management and simulation games, has rarely been disputed, the fact that females also outspend males in In-App Purchases came as a surprise to us,” Flurry analyst Simon Khalaf wrote in the report.
Above: Flurry finds out just how important womeon are in mobile gaming.
Women are particularly drawn to the management and simulation genres as well as solitaire and slots. Men lean toward card battlers and strategy.
Games account for 32 percent of the time that people spend on their smartphones and tablets, and brands can reach engaged men and women by placing ads in something like Kim Kardashian’s game.
“While the broadening of the mobile gaming base may not be welcome by hardcore male gamers, it brings good news to advertisers seeking to reach their audience,” wrote Khalaf. “In fact, advertisers are shifting billions of dollars in advertising to the mobile platform with the hopes of reaching the audience that is glued to smartphones and tablets 24/7/365.”
So while you may look at Kim Kardashian: Hollywood’s $700,000 a day as some kind of out-of-nowhere phenomenon. That isn’t the case, and it’s likely we’ll see a lot more games in that style aiming to capture the dedicated women of mobile gaming.