Rise of the barcade phenom: Trend or niche?

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Sept. 29, 2015 - PRLog -- Arcade bars, sometimes called “barcades,” have been a growing phenomenon. Since 2004, over 100 such establishments have popped up across the United States. A recent RapidPoll asked gamers how frequently they visit such establishments, and compared it to visit frequencies for traditional bars.

A RapidPolls study of 400 US gamers found that 1/3 of all gamers visit a barcade at least once a year. This is much less than traditional bar visit frequency among the general population, which found that 45% of people visit a bar at least once a year.

The study also found:

* A relatively small percentage--only 6% of gamers--visit barcades regularly (at least once a month), compared to 24% of the general population that visit traditional bars at least once a month.

* Gamers involved in watching, streaming, or competing in eSports are more almost twice as likely to visit a barcade, and are much more likely to visit barcades frequently.

* Male gamers are more likely to visit a barcade more frequently than female gamers.

RapidPolls is a service for conducting microsurveys for the video game industry. RapidPolls conducts a weekly gaming industry poll on a variety of subjects. For more information and to sign up for the weekly data juice, go to http://www.rapidpolls.com.