Monday, June 18, 2012

Report: 125 million mobile gamers in US & UK, 50-50 gender split

A survey commisioned by PopCap Games (Bejeweled, Peggle, Plants vs Zombies) has found that women outnumber men when it comes to playing games on phones and on tablets, whereas men tend to use both devices, and both genders display equal interest overall.

Mobile gamers in the US and UK now number 125 million and are on average 39.5 years old (39.3 in 2011), says the report compiled by the Information Solutions Group.

A further 16% are 55 or over, and those who use tablets only for their mobile gaming are, on average, just shy of 45 years old.

Mobile gaming is the biggest deal to 25-34 year olds, attracting 28% of male mobile gamers and 27% of female mobile gamers, but it's in the next stratum up that the biggest disparity is found: 19% of male players were 35-44 as opposed to 23% of females.

Tellingly for console manufacturers Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, mobile gamers are also least likely to pick up a dedicated handheld console.

A third of gaming time goes to phones (46% including tablets), just less than a third to play via desktop or laptop computers, but only 18% of time went on a game console and a minute 4% was spent with other handheld games machines.

That illuminates recent decisions by all three console makers to broaden the scope of their home devices. Both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 now have access to a variety of film, TV, and music applications, while the Nintendo 3DS boasts a glasses-free 3D display, and the Wii U trades on a tablet-style controller that can liberate the family TV for other uses.

Full survey (PDF file): infosolutionsgroup.com/popcapmobile2012.pdf



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