HOLLYWOOD -- Looking to bring vidgame industry research up to the level used by the rest of the entertainment industry and give Hollywood more insight into the elusive 18-34 male demo that's spending more time in front of a PlayStation, newly merged vidgame Web site
IGN/Gamespy is launching an online research service targeted at gamers.
Dubbed GamerMetrics, product is being unveiled today at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif.
Service will analyze audience traffic on
IGN.com and
Gamespy.com, which combined to reach more than 25 million unique users in January.
The Web sites are two of the most popular for men between 18 and 34, the demo that is most heavily into gaming and has been declining in Nielsen TV audience tracking. More than two-thirds of IGN/Gamespy's audience is from that group.
IGN and Gamespy agreed to merge in December in a deal worth between $125 million and $175 million. (
Daily Variety, Dec. 5).
Company already has signed up most major publishers in the vidgame space as clients, providing data on consumer interest in upcoming games and what gamers see as being in competition. After officially launching by June, service will expand to provide data on gamer interest in films, DVDs, and music.
"As stakes in the videogame industry go up, those companies need better research," said Jonathan Epstein, executive VP of IGN/Gamespy's media and publishing division. "For anyone in the entertainment industry, though, tracking and capturing young men is becoming more and more difficult without delving into the gaming world on sites like ours."
IGN/Gamespy competitor Gamespot, which is owned by CNET Networks, launched a competing service last year focused on Web site traffic related to videogames.
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