2012: Rise of the tween girl gamer? Survey gives emphatic 'yes'

Are eight to 12-year-old girls dropping the Barbies and picking up Bejeweled? According to a survey conducted by GirlsgoGames, that's exactly the case. The survey found that 50 percent of girls in that age bracket turn to the Internet for a gaming fix. Better yet, these tweens spend anywhere from 38 minutes to 1 hour and 18 minutes a month playing said games.

However, it's important to keep in mind that not only is GirlsgoGames is a Spil Games-owned tween gaming website, but that the survey was conducted with the platform's 7.6 million U.S. players between 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, according to Mashable. GirlsgoGames claims that tween girl gamers are especially into the social aspects of online gaming.

And boy, are these tween girl gamers spoiled: GirlsgoGames cited a recent Nielsen report in saying that 35 percent of girls between eight and 12 years old own a smartphone. (Of course, iPhones and iPads were the most popular type of mobile devices among tweens.)

Unsurprisingly, these tween girl game fans are into cooking, dressing up and quiz games, as well as make-up or makeover and animal games. But what is surprising is that they could be surging at all. Maybe CrowdStar is onto something after all? Hey if it means more Bejeweled Blitz fodder to crush like vermin, we're game.

[Image Credit: Ubisoft]

Are you surprised to see tween girls get into gaming? What do you chalk this up to? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.