Study Finds 17 Percent of Social Gamers Identify as 'Addicted'

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It seems we all have some anecdotal evidence for the addictive qualities of social gaming. A recent study now gives some quantifiable data to the issue.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, Lightspeed Research has released a study that 17 percent of social gamers identify themselves as 'addicted' to the frighteningly immersive genre of gaming. The study did not precisely define the word 'addicted' however, so assuming an actual psychological dependency is a bit of a leap.

The high number may come from people merely musing they are addicted to games like FarmVille, but the study also listed 34 percent had responded to advertising for in-game rewards. That's over a one in four chance of spending real money to get upgrades for things like your Facebook farm. Maybe they're not musing after all.

Of the 53% that play daily, the 55-64 age bracket played more than the 18-34 bracket. Not really too surprising there, honestly. While younger gamers may still play social games religiously, it's also more likely for the age bracket to play other games as well. Older gamers may find themselves intimidated or simply out of touch with modern gaming, and stick to social games, with their low barriers to playing.

Those numbers are still pretty impressive overall. Even if people are mockingly self-identifying as addicted, that is quite a number of people internalizing a negative stereotype.

One thing is for certain – social gaming is certainly here to stay.