MMO Demographics, Trends Explored In Survey

IGN Entertainment, a media conglomerate that includes one of the highest-trafficked networks of video game news sites, has released a survey into the amount of time that devoted MMORPG players spend on their hobby. The survey, called "Get Hooked on MMOs: Inside the phenomenon of Massively Multiplayer Online games," canvassed 5,634 of IGN's readers during the month of July across all of its member websites. The survey found that the typical MMO player is a male between the ages of 13 and 34, with a mean age of 27. About half of them were heavy users, playing over 18 hours a week, and half more casual players who put in only 10-12 hours. The survey also confirmed that although many MMORPG players are willing to try new games, they tend to play only one at a time, indicating that the MMORPG market may not be expanding. When choosing that single MMORPG, according to those surveyed, the most important feature was character customization. Problems severe enough to make players consider leaving are not enough new content, unbalanced classes, and too many bugs. Players generally were unwilling to forsake their favorite MMO even after reaching the game's level cap and exhausting its endgame content due to the community ties formed while playing. The most anticipated MMORPGs at the moment are Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach and The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, and the most popular games at the moment include World of Warcraft and Asheron's Call. "Expect to see MMOs on all of the next-gen consoles, as well as the current generation of handhelds." said GameSpy Editor Dave Kosak. "We also expect to see a wider range of payment options for players. Fees charged to cell phone bills, as they often are in Asia, bigger discounts for purchasing service in advance, or games with no monthly fee at all, but tons of extras to buy on a regular basis - new missions, new expansions, etc."