December 8th, 2023, Kineree Shah
There have been major moves in the gaming industry to bring heavy duty titles to smartphones – a phenomenon most recently exemplified by iPhone’s big gaming push: A major trigger for this push could be the sheer volumes of people who play on smartphones and the almost ubiquitous presence of these devices. YouGov Global Profiles provides an overview of the shares of gamers who play on mobile phones with a comparison against the shares of consumers who use PC or console set ups. In this piece we define gamers as people who play video games for more than an hour in a week.
A survey of 48 international markets reveals that mobile gaming is slightly more popular: 46% of gamers play on mobile devices, compared to 40% on PC or consoles.
Things can vary vastly from market to market. In China, the split is nearly even, with 61% of gamers using consoles and 65% preferring mobile gaming. Saudi Arabia displays a similar balance, with both platforms nearly equally favored (51% and 50%). In contrast, countries like Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Thailand show a marked preference for mobile gaming, with over half of gamers in these regions choosing this platform. In India, 39% of gamers engage in mobile gaming, compared to 31% who play on consoles or PC.
European markets such as Germany, France, Sweden, and Britain exhibit a more balanced distribution between PC/console gaming (27-31%) and mobile gaming (26-33%), though overall gaming engagement is somewhat lower. In the United States, mobile gaming is slightly more popular than console gaming, with 37% of gamers preferring mobile and 33% opting for consoles.
This data underlines the importance of tailoring strategies to specific markets and platforms. Whether it's developing targeted advertising campaigns, creating localized content, or exploring cross-platform opportunities, understanding these gaming preferences is key to effectively engaging with diverse gamer demographics.
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Methodology: YouGov Global Profiles is a globally consistent audience dataset with 1000+ questions across 48 markets. The data is based on continuously collected data from adults aged 16+ years in China and 18+ years in other markets. The sample sizes for YouGov Global Profiles will fluctuate over time, however the minimum sample size is always c.1000. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from India and UAE, which use urban representative samples, and China, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, which use online representative samples. Learn more about Global Profiles.