What a Gamer Wants: Reaching Engaged Audiences with Digital Audio

Mar 13, 2023

Chances are that a lot of your target consumers play video games in one form or another. And with so many of them listening to their favorite music, talk, and podcasts as they play, it just makes sense to reach them with digital audio.

Video games appeal to the masses, transcending age and gender, culture and society, big cities and small towns. From consoles to handheld, from online to mobile, 215M Americans are playing video games.1 And as their fingers click and swipe, their eyes glued to screens, they’re listening to digital audio to enhance the experience. Two in three adults 18+ listen to music during game-related activities,2 and 60% of gamers say songs with emotional messages help improve their performance.3

The gaming community presents a huge opportunity for brands. And if advertisers want to reach a captivated audience with brand messages, digital audio is the way to go.

Games People Play: Understanding the Audience

The people who play games are as diverse as the gaming experiences they enjoy. They’re not all millennial men staring at monitors in their man caves (but some absolutely are). Consumers across demographics are indulging in video games.

Women: Among the top 1,000 games in the US in 2021, nearly 50% of them skew towards female audiences. 4
Adults 45+: Mobile games that lean toward Gen X/baby boomers represent nearly 25% of the top grossing games, the fastest growing cohort in the US. 4
Gen Z: More than half of Gen Z teens say video games help them stay connected to other people and close to two-thirds say personalizing game avatars help them express themselves.5

Play on, Playa: Digging into the Motivations

Yes, games are a form of entertainment, but they’re so much more. Gaming is a culture, a new dimension, no longer bound by place, time, or physical reality. Video games have graduated from a mild pastime to social lifeline.

Let the Music Play: Reaching Gamers with Digital Audio

Gamers are multitaskers. Whether it’s listening to a podcast while tackling the latest word puzzle or blasting their favorite tunes while conquering virtual worlds, players are indulging in digital audio as they play.

Streaming Pandora

Gamers are pressing start for Pandora—77% of Pandora gamers who use their consoles stream music on Pandora.2 Our gaming listeners are a tech-focused group, keeping up with the latest electronics and using them as a source for entertainment.

63% say they are willing to pay for top quality electronics.6
44% say their computer is their primary source of fun and entertainment.6
42% have played video games in the last 30 days.6

Signing on to SoundCloud

The synergies between the gaming industry and SoundCloud are undeniable, with 90% of listeners more likely to have played video games in the last seven days.6 From reaching a younger and influential audience, to connecting consumers through engaging entertainment, it’s clear that our Soundcloud listeners are key players when it comes to gaming.

60% more likely to be the principal gamer in the household.6
47% more likely to have played a game on their phone in the last month.6
1 in 4 have played a handheld gaming system in the last month.6

Plugging into Podcasts

Podcasts connect audiences to everything from news to the topics they care about to the stories they can’t stop listening to—and that includes gamers. With only so many hours in the day, gamers are doubling up on the entertainment they love, combining their favorite shows with the games they can’t put down.

65% more likely to shop at GameStop in the past three months.6
Nearly 1 in 4 shopped for video games in the past six months.6

Listening to SiriusXM

Our SiriusXM satellite listeners use gaming as a way to connect with the world. They are comfortable spending in order to get the latest games, and they’re playing often throughout the week.

1 in 4 purchased a video game in the last 12 months.6
1 in 5 play portable video/electronic games 2+ times a week.6
1 in 5 consider themselves video game super influencers.6

Clearly, digital audio is a great way to reach gamers—especially across our platforms.

Your Brand Messages Play with Digital Audio

Chances are that a lot of your target consumers fall into the 215M Americans who enjoy video games.1 And with so many of them listening to their favorite music, talk, and podcasts as they play, it just makes sense to reach them with digital audio. And with our large addressable audience, your ads go further on our platforms. We can help you target your key demographics and reach them no matter what they’re doing: driving, working, walking, cooking, shopping, and especially when they’re playing video games.

Let’s talk strategy.