UK Users Spend 170m on Mobile Games

Data released as part of the Mobile section of the UK National Gamers Survey Report conducted by TNS and Gamesindustry.com reveals that 3.8 million people playing games on their mobile phones spent a total of 170 million last year. 4.2 million Brits play but dont pay. Only one third of the paying mobile gamers spent more than 5 a month on average, highlighting the long tail of occasional buyers of mobile content. The iPhone and O2 lead in getting mobile gamers to pay.
Genders are represented practically equally for non-paying as well as paying mobile gamers: 53% of paying mobile gamers are male, 47% female. The 20-34 age group accounts for 39% of mobile gamers and 60% of paying mobile gamers. Teenagers make up only 18% of mobile gamers and 15% of the paying players. Two thirds of people spending money on mobile games have a full-time job and close to half of them are married, confirming the mainstream appeal and reach of mobile games. Mobile gamers are significantly more interested in sports, fashion and travel than the average Brit.
The iPhone is the most successful handset brand when it comes to converting mobile gamers to paying. Of the 700,000 UK iPhone owners that play mobile games, 85% pay for games. The leading operator is O2, with a conversion ratio of 67% for its 2.4 million mobile gamers. Nokia and Sony Ericsson have 38% paying players, as does Vodafone. Three quarters of paying mobile gamers have a contract, while for all mobile gamers 57% are on a monthly mobile phone contract.
Only 14% of UK mobile gamers plays daily. This goes up to 18% for people who have paid for games. The majority of mobile gamers play for between 15 and 60 minutes on their mobile phone when they play. Popular games for paying mobile gamers are puzzles, strategy, race and arcade games. Arcade games and puzzles are the most popular with non-paying gamers. 41% of all mobile gamers have played more than three different games in the last six months. 16% of paying mobile gamers, or 600,000 people in absolute numbers, can be seen as heavy users, playing more than 25 different games in a 6-month period.
The UK National Gamers Survey Report is part of the 2009 Todays Gamers International Survey (www.todaysgamers.com) and the latest in a series of identical nationwide surveys conducted across European key areas and the US.
The iPhone does, by far, not have the number of users as other handset brands but is extremely good at monetizing the popularity of games on mobile phones, says Gamesindustry.coms Peter Warman. This has also clearly had its effect on the conversion to paying gamers of the large operators closely related to iPhone.
The full UK National Gamers Survey Report and full datasets are available for 4,950 (4,315), and an international comparative high-level report across all countries surveyed (the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium and the US), comprising 80 pages and 120 graphs is also available for 4,950.
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