October 2014
Featured in this insight: IT & telecommunications
Mobile phone apps increasing number of female video gamers, study suggests: Women make up more than half (52%) of people who have played some form of video game in the last six months - a 3% increase from three years ago (49%), according to a recent study powered by Populus.
The research revealed that, in the past six months, seven in ten Brits have played some form of video game, with the industry’s audience reaching 33.5 million gamers in 2014 – more than two thirds (69%) of the British population.
The study, which was conducted with 4,058 Britons aged between 8 and 74, also discovered that 44+ year-olds (27%) make up a larger proportion of the gaming population than children and teenagers (22%).
The increased number of female and older gamers is said to be down to free games, primarily mobile phone apps. The research highlighted that three fifths (61%) of the games that were played over the last six months were free, and that apps are now the most popular video game format (55%), ahead of online games (48%) and disc-based games (40%).
As a result, smartphones (54%) are now voted the most popular platform to play video games on, with one quarter of the survey’s respondents admitting to playing video games on their phone every day. Computers (51%), consoles (45%), and tablets (44%) were the next most popular devices to play on.
One third of the study’s participants cited trivia/word/puzzle challenges as their favourite video game, making it the most accepted genre. Other popular genres include: action/adventure/shooter (18%); role playing/strategy (10%); sports (10%); gambling (10%); simulation (8%); racing/driving (5%); fitness (3%) and music (3%).
And, finally, six in 10 (61%) respondents said they were happy to see in-game advertisements during their game-playing experience if it makes them free, with almost one quarter (24%) agreeing in-game ads make the experience more realistic and immersive.
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