Female Gamers Gaining an Edge

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The era of the hardcore male gamer is ending, as a new segment -- the female social gamer -- has started to rise in importance for the broader gaming market, according to a new report by analytics firm Flurry.

As console gaming continues to decline -- sales were down 5% in 2010, according to the NPD Group -- cheaper alternatives played on mobile devices are flourishing. And in contrast to traditional gaming, which remains dominated by men, more than half of these mobile players are female.

Mobile gamers tend to be younger, more educated and more affluent when compared to their hardcore male counterparts, who play console games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, said Flurry.

On average, these female players spend 25 minutes a day playing mobile games like Angry Birds, more time than they do watching primetime television.

These demographics make mobile gamers an attractive segment for ad agencies and marketers eager to tap into the lucrative mobile gaming market. Mobile games represent big business, with revenues expected to top $15 billion globally by 2015, according to Juniper Research.

Of the top 10 paid apps of all time in Apple's (APPL) App Store, all were mobile games, including Doodle Jump and Tap Tap Revenge 3.

--Written by Olivia Oran in New York.



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