Why gaming keeps growing in the US

The new Y U Play survey, conducted on the MocoSpace network, found that about one-third of gamers are playing because they're bored/need to kill time (32%). Another one-third are playing simply for the fun of it (34%). Other reasons gamers are playing:

• 10% like the competitive nature of games
• 9% are trying to meet new people
• 6% want to try something new

"This survey showed us that our gamers are really engaged with the titles we are offering," said MocoSpace co-founder and CEO Justin Siegel. "We are working on developing more games in-house as well as fostering relationships with third-party developers in order to churn out more funHTML5 games that can be played on any mobile device."

Here are some highlights from the report:

• 42% play games in classes because 'class is boring'
• 41% say they play games during classes because they have down time
• 15% say they're playing during classes because they're 'hooked'
• 2% say they're playing because other classmates are playing

Another interesting finding: gamers today aren't just looking to play with existing friends. Many turn to gaming to make new friends - in fact five times more gamers say they're trying to connect with new people than those connecting with existing friends.

Researchers polled more than 10,000 MocoSpace gamers in April to come to their results.

Tags: game trends, MocoSpace, online gaming, social gaming, social marketing