The Immersive Media Obsession: Gen Z Can’t Get Enough Everyrealm report reveals that young audiences spend 5x as much time in social video games than they do on social media
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February 22, 2023 10:43 AM Eastern Standard Time
Everyrealm, an immersive media company that develops and invests in businesses related to virtual worlds, social video gaming, and the metaverse, has released the “Immersive Media Market Report,” an industry survey about the rise of the immersive media industry. Immersive media is defined as interactive, social video game-like content delivered through virtual worlds.
Younger generations are ushering in a transition from 2D social media platforms to social, virtual video-game-like worlds. This is the transition to immersive media, where static social media scrolling is being replaced by fully formed digital environments, or virtual worlds, where people not only interact with each other, but curate digital identities spanning their avatar appearance, virtual home, and possessions. Immersive media is becoming an increasingly popular leisure activity to the detriment of other media formats–a trend that marketers and companies need to prepare for.
According to the Everyrealm report, young audiences are spending more of their leisure time in social video games and virtual worlds than they are watching television or reading books. Even social media platforms like Instagram snag users for an average of 30 minutes a day, while the average Roblox player spends more than 2.5 hours each day in the game.
The report notes that video games have become popular among younger people because they offer a level of engagement and interactivity that traditional forms of media cannot match. Players can connect with friends, engage with in-game economies and create their own content, which satisfies their social requirements and desires for customization.
The rise of immersive media and virtual worlds has changed how younger generations socialize and interact. Nearly 90% of Gen Alpha and Gen Z consider themselves gamers or game enthusiasts, with Gen Z gamers spending almost twice as much time with friends in virtual worlds than in real life. Over half claim, they can express themselves more easily in virtual worlds. Moreover, roughly half of this younger demographic regularly spends money on games and in-game purchases that amount to more than $60 billion per year.
Commenting on the findings, Everyrealm's CEO Janine Yorio notes, “Companies need to prepare for the rise of immersive media if they want to find younger audiences. Businesses and marketers must prepare for the rise of immersive media by adapting to this new reality if they want to remain relevant and capture the attention of the next generation of consumers.”
Overall, the report's findings paint a powerful picture of how immersive media has transformed the digital landscape and disrupted the traditional social media market.
Read the report here.
About Everyrealm
Everyrealm is an immersive media company that develops and invests in businesses related to virtual worlds, social video gaming, and the metaverse. Everyrealm is behind popular virtual-community-driven projects such as The Row and Fantasy Islands, as well as the upcoming social video games Narcos: Metaverse and Hometopia. Everyrealm also operates Bedlam, a competitive gaming and tournament platform.
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