WHEN the word ‘gamers’ is mentioned, the common image is a young person, about 12 to 16 years old, mostly male but with a spattering of girls who stay in front of the computer or gaming device for 18 to 20 hours a day.
Today the average age for a gamer is 38 years old. This means the range is from 12 years old up to 65 years old.
“Gamers today seek the perfect balance of work and play in their lives. Thus, the average age became more mature. This shift in taste and requirements meant machines had to be developed to meet their demands for great performance for every scenario,” Ian Tan, Gaming Lead at Lenovo during the company’s first regional, online launch of it latest products.
The virtual product launch is the first for Lenovo’s in a global PC market affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The launch was followed by an online press conference carried over a live stream with Lenovo executives from the Philippines and Singapore.
When PC gaming first emerged as a hobby for computer enthusiasts, it was an idea that took advantage of the untapped potential of those early personal computers. Today, many buyers choose computers that can handle both intensive workloads as well us run popular on-computer, or connected games.
The Lenovo study involved interviewing over 7,800 participants, including thousands of global players. Nearly half responded that they used their gaming PCs for everyday computing as well as gaming. Better graphics, processors and memory options are tops on their must-have list.
This being the case, computers also began to become more expensive. The common owner of a powerful computer or one that is both a gaming rig and workstation has a stable job allowing for the purchase of high end computers. But the age shift was brought about by other factors as well, according to Tan.
The first one is the increasing demands and workloads of computers with the higher requirements for processing speed even for simple operations like word processing and spreadsheets to graphics design and video editing.
“Desktops and even laptops needed more speed and processing power, this was also advantageous to game developers who quickly took advantage of the performance improvements to build better, faster and more immersive games,” Tan said responding to a question from Malaya Business Insight.
The advent of more sophisticated games, requiring powerful gaming rigs and devices, has changed the gamer’s landscape. But has also changed the way PC makers build computers.
“At Lenovo we took particular attention to how our market had both matured and demanded a different was of presenting their gaming machines. No longer did this market want computers that were flashy and looked like gaming rigs. They wanted something that could be brought into the boardroom, be used for a presentation or a spreadsheet, but would be ready for gaming when the time is allotted or available,” Tan explained.
Another reason is because gamers simply have grown up and looked for more “presentable” devices. The teenagers or young adults who started gaming and started to work did not leave their games, as it is part of their personal work-life balance.
As this developed, the stereotyped gamer disappeared. What came out is a classification of gamers, stretching from those whose work is their game, including e-Sports players or game developers to casual gamers who play mostly for fun and relaxation.
Lenovo does not classify these worker-gamers as just one consumer group. The five kinds of gamers they have identified have given them very strong insights towards developing their new products.
A key conclusion was that how people game, with whom, on how many devices, and for how long, all factored heavily when choosing a PC. When they do manage to squeeze in some hardcore gaming time with friends, it is crucial that the experience in those precious hours blows them away. This applies to all markets and to whatever brand of computer. Creating a computer that meets the demands ensures market acceptance and success.
“When we started Legion in the market in 2017, we also took it upon ourselves to bolster the local gaming community. There are so many competitive titles out there where our players can shine but don’t simply because they lack the necessary gear to handle them. That’s where our new Legion lineup and services come in — to arm Filipino gamers with the devices they need to play the latest and greatest games in order to flourish as eSports professionals both locally and abroad,” said Michael Ngan, Lenovo Philippines General Manager and President said during the virtual press conference.
