There were some surprising conclusions from a new casual games study out last week, showing that there are almost 33% more online gamers at the end of 2009 compared to a year earlier. One conclusion hard to justify was that the only phone owners who seem to be prepared to pay for games are HTC and iPhone owners. The study also showed that while women are very keen to play mobile games, it is only men who are likely to pay for them.
At the German Games Convention Online last week, research institute Gamematrix and games publisher Greentube presented results of their study on user behavior of online and mobile casual gamers. One of the ideas was to compare online gamers with mobile and to pinpoint any differences in behavior.
Most mobile phone users are not as willing to pay for mobile games as online gamers, with the exception of the two phones mentioned above, for some reason HTC and iPhone owners spent more. Despite this fact mobile games in Germany alone last year did revenues of €140 million
In 2009, the number of online gamers (aged 14 and over) rose by a third to approximately 10.3 million. More than 50% of the users play multiplayer games; 20% exclusively play such games. Around a third of all gamers are female. The survey also revealed that there is a clear willingness among online gamers to pay for such games. On average, the gamers spend €28 a month and around 5% surveyed spent over €75 a month.
There was also a positive attitude towards advertising among these gamers, when they see in-game advertising, especially in free games, as gamers are fully aware that it’s this that pays for the games. Every third person surveyed said they actively click on such advertising. It doesn’t mean they buy anything though.
While the majority of online gamers still come from low-income households, almost 25% belong to higher earners with a minimum income of €2,300 a month.