Univision Interactive Media & Gamespot launch partners and gamer research.

Univision Interactive Media, Inc., the digital division of Univision Communications Inc., announced a partnership agreement with GameSpot. GameSpot will provide content for a new Spanish-language video gaming site on Univision.com (keyword: videojuegos). The new online and mobile site will give users access to complete videogame information, including Spanish-language content from GameSpot’s award winning website, from news and reviews, to editorials and videos on the top-selling games worldwide.

In addition, Univision will be sharing the results of a proprietary gaming research study it has conducted that reveals the growth potential of the U.S. Hispanic gaming market today at the MI6 Conference at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco. The Univision video gaming study compared attitudes and usage related to the videogame category between Hispanic and non-Hispanic consumers. Among the critical findings was that Hispanic respondents answered in the affirmative at a rate 100 percent higher than non-Hispanic survey applicants when asked if they planned to purchase a videogame in the next 30 days.

“Today’s partnership enables GameSpot to extend its reach to one of the fastest-growing segments of the video gaming community,” said Simon Whitcombe, Vice President-Games, CBS Interactive, which owns GameSpot. “Univision Interactive Media offers the largest and most comprehensive online network dedicated to U.S. Hispanics. Univision research shows that this part of the market has great potential for growth. By adding GameSpot content, Univision Interactive Media’s Hispanic video gaming audience will now have access to award winning videogame content that will inform their purchase decisions.”

“Our new Videogames site will be an industry-leading, fully comprehensive U.S. Spanish-language source for videogame news, content and information,” said Kevin Conroy, president of Univision Interactive Media, Inc. “This launch is part of Univision’s company-wide commitment to providing U.S. Hispanics with best-in-class, Spanish-language video gaming content not currently available to them anywhere else.”

Univision Interactive Media will translate GameSpot content into Spanish, and GameSpot will also produce exclusive weekly Spanish-language content that will appear on Univision.com. GameSpot editor-in-chief, Ricardo Torres will oversee production of a robust variety of gaming information.

Univision Gaming Study Findings:

Univision’s gaming research offers significant findings for game publishers, console marketers and retailers wanting to capitalize on the U.S. Hispanic consumer. Top line findings include:

– Hispanics demonstrate a greater propensity overall than non-Hispanic consumers for purchase of in-home and portable video game systems.

– Hispanics are not as price sensitive – Hispanic respondents were 15 percent less likely than non-Hispanics to say cost was a primary reason for purchasing video games.

– Hispanics are still a fertile ground for video game growth, as many consider themselves beginners — with more than 50 percent of respondents labeling their experience as a ‘novice’ level player versus non-Hispanics who claimed ‘novice’ status at 30 percent.

The quantitative research used a national survey administered to 524 Hispanic and non-Hispanic respondents. The screening criterion included Hispanic adults 18-54 who watched eight plus hours of Spanish-language television per week and non-Hispanic adults 18-54 who watched eight plus hours of English-language television per week. The male and female samples were weighted to accurately reflect proportions in the population.

As Univision.com celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, Univision Interactive Media is marking a decade of serving online and mobile Hispanics with premier Spanish-language sites, products and programming.