Study: In the year 2013, we'll have over 73 million U.S. social gamers

Every time one of these studies comes in, it feels like we're all at the World's Fair, doesn't it? (And we'll play them while being driven in our hover cars!) A study by eMarketer released today reveals the projection that, by 2013, there will be 73.6 million social gamers in the U.S. of A. This number will explode from today's estimated 61.9 million Facebook gamers in the country, which already sounds a bit low to us. And because of these growing numbers, eMarketer thinks it's thanks to shifting demographics.

"Gone are the days when only males ages 18 to 34 were hardcore gamers or only moms were pelting their Facebook friends with requests for hens or heifers in social games like FarmVille," eMarketer senior analyst Lisa E. Phillips--and author of this very report, "Online Gaming Audience: Lines Blur as the Market Grows--said. "Today's core gamers are also playing casual games. More women are using game consoles beyond the Nintendo Wii, and their game choices include many genres."

And, you know what, she might be right. Just recently, it was estimated that by the same time, 2013, hardcore social games will grow five-fold. Not to mention that there already are nearly 80 million strategy gamers on the platform. While the casual, FarmVille-loving sector will certainly continue to grow, this is hardly the last we've heard from the "hardcore" gaming crowd on Facebook. Check out even more about these rapid yet expected demographic shifts right here.

Do you think Facebook gaming is going to change the general games landscape this drastically? Do you think all forms of gaming would be better or worse if they took onto the general language of Facebook games? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.