Average age of mobile gamer drops seven years as kids and teens grab smartphones

New research shows just how prevalent mobile gaming is in modern life, with the average age of mobile gamers coming down markedly in the last year.

According to the 2014 Deconstructing Mobile & Tablet Gaming Report from EEDAR, there are 142 million mobile gamers in North America, up from 111 million in 2013. These mobile gamers spent an average of $32.65 in the last year, generating $4.6 billion in revenue.

The top 6 percent of spenders generate about half of the mobile gaming revenue, while nearly half of all mobile gamers do not pay to play mobile games.

The average age of mobile gamers is approximately 27.7 years old, which represents a seven-year decrease on 2013. This is a result of more children and teens owning smart devices as prices come down.

EEDAR looked at the games people are playing and found that casual mobile gamers tend to be younger (average age is 26) and are more likely to be female (70 percent). Core gamers tend to be older (average age is 30) and are more likely to be male (58 percent).

The data comes from a consumer survey of 3,500 active mobile gamers that played a mobile game within the past three months on their smartphone or tablet.