US Gamers Targeting Games Franchises to Compete in the Attention Economy

The 20,000 Foot View:  Games used to be isolated from other media activities. This has all changed with the rise of the attention economy, and the shift of gaming devices from purely consoles, to smartphones now supporting other media formats. This dynamic opens a floodgate of opportunities for media and entertainment companies, tech majors, telcos and brands alike to create cross-entertainment collaboration and marketing opportunities. To leverage these effectively, in this report we delve deep into the audiences of key games franchises and their behaviour across the media and entertainment landscape. 

Key Findings

• Gaming is            mainstream in the US:            of            spend at least one hour            week gaming, compared to            streaming            and            streaming movies or TV 
• Gaming and            audiences overlap strongly:            of weekly            Fortnite users use Netflix weekly,            to just            that use YouTube           
• More US            Creed players use Netflix and            Prime Video weekly than they            YouTube
• Assassin’s Creed            active users (WAUs) are a            opportunity for Amazon, with Prime            WAU penetration            among this group            than double the all-consumer average           
• Twitch attracts            casual and hardcore gamers, with            US WAU penetration among Pokémon                       than Call of Duty            Assassin’s                       or Fortnite players           
• Facebook is            top social media platform for            franchise audiences
• FIFA WAUs            index for usage of WhatsApp            Twitter            compared to other games            (e.g.            of Call of Duty            use WhatsApp and            use Twitter)
• God of            users are more than twice            likely to spend            on games            average gamers 
• Games franchises            increasingly penetrate both the video            music landscapes in 2019 and           

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon Echo, Amazon Music Unlimited, Amazon Prime Video, Apex Legends, Assassin’s Creed, Bear Grylls, Call of Duty, Counter Strike, CSR Racing, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Far Cry, FIFA, Fortnite, Forza, God of War, Grand Theft Auto, Instagram, League of Legends, Marshmello, Minecraft, Monster Hunter, NBA            Netflix, Pinterest, PlayStation, Player Unknown Battleground, Pokémon, Red Dead Redemption, Snapchat Spider-Man, Sony, Super Mario, The Grand Tour, Twitch, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube