Piper Jaffray: 53% Of Teens Willing To Pay For DLC

Slightly more than half of American teens are willing to pay to download additional content for console games, according to a new study of teen habits and preferences. The data was released by investment firm Piper Jaffray as part of its 19th semiannual "Taking Stock With Teens" report. Data from the survey suggests teens comprise just over a third of all video game players, and that video game spending makes up about 8 percent of teen budgets. More than a third of teens, 38 percent, said they would buy cell phone games. In a separate part of the report focused on digital media, the firm said 14 percent of high school students claimed to own an iPhone, and more than twice that number indicated their intention to buy one within six months. Finally, a quarter of teens said they play social network games. Research on the demographics of social gamers is widespread but scattered. One recent survey pegged the average social gamer as 29 years of age, while another, from prominent casual game developer PopCap, found it to be 43. The Piper Jaffray report is based on a survey of approximately 900 teens with an average age of 16.6 across 12 cities, as well as 5,100 teens with an average age of 16.7 through the internet.