I never knew that - Over 45s buy the most virtual goods

They're 18 per cent of the market, but they do 42 per cent of the spending. Amazing.

Stats from the US mobile social network MocoSpace surveyed nearly 500,000 gamers on its network of 22 million users.

It found older gamers spend the least amount of time playing games, while younger gamers (25-35) spend the most. But gamers over 45 buy exponentially more virtual goods.

The 18- to 25-year-olds, who made up 43 per cent of those surveyed, bought just 18 per cent of virtual goods.

Most active were the 25- to 35-year-olds, who spend nearly twice as much time gaming as any other group.

Mocospace reckons older demographics may have more disposable income, or a desire to progress further within games via virtual goods to save time.

Here are the key stats

18-25: 10 per cent of all gamers bought virtual goods
25-35: 22 per cent of all gamers bought virtual goods
35-45: 50 per cent of all gamers bought virtual goods
45+: 70 per cent of all gamers bought virtual goods

“We’re seeing parents go from spending money on buying games for their kids, to spending money on virtual goods in games for themselves. The time-versus-money balance seems to come into play here, where young people have more time than money, and the reverse holds true as we all grow up,” said MocoSpace CEO Justin Siegel.

Now this is interesting for all those who next year are moving into gaming :)