Earlier this summer, Twitter revealed how more than half of the users are gamers that love discussing and sharing information about their favorite titles. However, it’s not the only social platform to have a high gamer population.
VentureBeat reported on a survey the image sharing service recently conducted that reveals how the overwhelming majority of its audience—about 91 percent—are made up of gamers. Imgur also reported that 63 percent of gamers who visit the site tend to play games at least once a day, while 88 percent game several times a week.
Imgur also detailed a number of other interesting statistics, such as how 52 percent of players would be willing to cut one meal out of their day if it meant more time with their game, and 25 percent of users spend at least $50-$100 on their favorite games regularly. Ten percent spend a higher monthly amount, somewhere between $500 to $1,000.
Considering that Imgur has a monthly audience of 150 million users, making it one of the top 50 sites in the world, it’s a better social platform than some may expect.
Steve Patrizi, vice president of marketing for Imgur, noted that users can “surface really entertaining moments” from the service, with the right amount of creativity. “Gaming is mainstream. We don’t position ourselves as a hardcore gaming site. There aren’t a lot of non-gaming destinations where you have a high concentration of hardcore gamers. We are not a site about gaming. But the gamers are here.”
The survey also shows that gamers are big spenders, with 33 percent stating that they buy at least one game per month, while 27 percent pick up one or more games a week. Meanwhile, 22 percent wait a good six months, and nine percent can hold out for an entire year, which is the same percentage as those that buy a game a day.
So where does Imgur benefit from a gaming audience? Usually with screenshots and images from new releases. “There’s funny Grand Theft Auto scenes where a tractor-trailer goes off a cliff and lands perfectly in a parking spot,” noted Patrizi.
GTA isn’t the only popular franchise. About 49 percent of users play Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series, while 43 prefer its other hit title, Fallout 4. Other notable entries include Minecraft (41 percent), Pokémon (3 percent) and The Legend of Zelda (31 percent).
“It’s hardcore, on the PC side of the spectrum,” noted Patrizi. “Pokémon GO is certainly a big topic.”
Video games and social networks have a bigger connection than expected. Gleana Albritto, industry marketing lead for media and entertainment for Twitter, explained that “gaming’s popularity is anything but a game, as 65 percent of Twitter users say they play video games, and 55 percent of those users say they regularly play console games.”
These sites also provide a place to talk about new game announcements and details right away. “Gaming audiences like to stay up-to-date on all the latest equipment as well,” Albritto added. “A whopping 78 percent of them researched a game or console as a result of following a gaming handle. Of these followers, 81 percent own a console and 53 percent bought one in the past 12 months. Nearly 40 percent of them intend to buy a gaming console in the next year.”
Imgur is certainly no stranger to embracing its unique audience. In fact, earlier this year, it revealed a culture poll discussing the growth of the “millennial geek” audience, with 23 percent proclaiming themselves as full-on geeks, and only 12 percent stating they weren’t geeks at all.
