The differences between hardcore social gamers and casual gamers

"The social gamer sector is a large, and growing, market – 41% of all U.S. Internet users have played social games.  That amounts to 98 million in the U.S. alone.
Hardcore Social Gamers resemble traditional core gamers demographically: While a majority of casual social gamers are women (61%) and over 40-years-old (62%), the reverse is true for hardcore social gamers: 55% of hardcore social gamers are male and 57% are under the age of 40 (with an average age of 37).
Hardcore Social Gamers are playing lots of games.  Hardcore social gamers tend to play multiple games simultaneously (76% playing two or more).  In fact, nearly half (47%) of hardcore social gamers are playing three or more social games, while 28% are playing 4 or more social games concurrently.  Clearly, these are dedicated game enthusiasts.
Hardcore Social Gamers exhibit greater level of gameplay engagement - The level of commitment and engagement of gamer segments varies.  When it comes to amount of gameplay time, hardcore social gamers far exceed casual social gamers.  This research indicates that 68% of hardcore social gamers are playing three or more hours per day of any game, with 30% playing social games for more than an hour per session.  By contrast, only 43% of casual social gamers spend three or more hours daily playing games of any type.  And, they play social games in short bursts – 54% indicate their typical session length is 30 minutes or less."
Source:  Press release from Kabam, 22nd September 2011
Note - A hardcore social gamer is defined as "players who play strategy, RPG, or other ‘core’ segment games (MMO, action, FPS, MOBA) on a social network site."
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