Extreme Gamers Play 48.5 Hours Per Week

VARIETY reports that an NPD Group study states that extreme gamers make up 4% of the gamers in the U.S.

VARIETY reports that an NPD Group study states that extreme gamers make up 4% of the gamers in the U.S. These players play on average 48.5 hours a week playing games. The average amount of gameplay for Americans is 13 hours per week according to the study. This is up 42 minutes from 2009.

Compared to TV viewing, Nielsen reports that the average American watches 35 hours of television per week.

Gameplay figures were up for both console and PC games, but dropped 16% in portable games. The report cites that iPhone and iPod Touch games were not part of the portable tracking.

Additionally, digital sales have risen to 17% of the market. Avid PC gamers purchase 30% of their games digitally.