A swelling number of adult mobile users are becoming avid mobile gamers.
According to a new survey commissioned by PopCap Games – a leading global developer, publisher and operator of casual video games – overall usage and frequency of mobile game playing among US. and UK adults is increasing at a steady rate.
The survey, conducted by Information Solutions Group, discovered that among mobile phone gamers, the mobile phone is now the primary gaming device of choice.
It’s a reality that’s been felt throughout the tech world, particularly by executives at Apple, who have only recently – and still reluctantly – accepted the fact that the iPhone is simply a portable gaming system for many of its die-hard users.
The results of this particular study are derived from 2,425 online surveys completed in the United States and United Kingdom between January 25 and January 31, 2011.
The findings show that “smartphone” owners (the fastest-growing mobile segment) are by far the most avid consumers of mobile phone games. “These and other purchase and consumption trends identified in the survey suggest significant growth in the mobile games sector will continue for the foreseeable future,” PopCap Games revealed.
Overall, more than half (52%) of the 2,425 survey respondents said they had played a game on a mobile phone at some time in the past; 73% of U.K. respondents said they had played a mobile phone game at least once, compared to 44% of U.S. residents surveyed.
“Mobile games are, along with social games, the hottest sector of the video game industry by far,” stated Dennis Ryan, EVP of Worldwide Publishing at PopCap. “As more people purchase smartphones and the entire process of finding, purchasing and playing mobile games becomes as simple as browsing the internet, the mobile games market is going to accelerate even more.”
