Mobile gaming poised for growth in 2009: PopCap

By Giselle Tsirulnik

May 5, 2009

A PopCap game

AT&T wireless customers are turning to their mobile phones to do more than talk and text, according to a survey by PopCap Games and Information Solutions Group.

PopCap Games, a developer and publisher of casual games, said that 57 percent of AT&T wireless customers who were polled play mobile games on their wireless devices. The survey, conducted by Information Solutions Group among more than 1,100 AT&T wireless customers, underscores the growing popularity of mobile gaming.

Why are wireless customers turning to mobile gaming? Mobile gaming serves as a distraction and stress relief for on-the-go consumers.

More than 50 percent of AT&T mobile gamers polled said they gamed as a distraction from daily life issues, while 40 percent said they gamed for relaxation and stress relief.

Fifty percent of AT&T mobile gamers polled say they play mobile games during work hours, while one in seven mobile gamers say they most often play games on their phone during work when they need a short break.

Nearly 60 percent of AT&T mobile gamers in the survey indicated they play games on their wireless device at least once a month and 40 percent said they played weekly or more often.

A whopping 91 percent of mobile gaming sessions are 30 minutes or less, 62 percent are less than 15 minutes.

Over three quarters (78 percent) of mobile gamers have been playing games on their phone for more than a year, and 55 percent of those say they've been playing for 3 plus years.

On average, nearly a quarter (22.2 percent) of mobile gamers' total game playing time occurs on their mobile phones.

One-third of AT&T mobile gamers surveyed said they were "somewhat or very likely" to purchase a game for their mobile phone in 2009.

Just over a quarter (26 percent) said they've paid for a mobile game.

Survey respondents who have purchased one or more mobile games have purchased an average of 7.2 mobile games; 26 percent said they'd purchased four or more games in the past year, with those newer to mobile gaming being more likely to purchase games for the phone.

Among respondents who indicated they would not be buying a mobile game in 2009, the top three reasons for that decision were: "happy with free games" (24 percent), "none of the games interest me enough to buy" (15 percent), and "lack of time to play" (14 percent).

Mobile gamers in the survey are fairly evenly split by gender, with 51 percent of males and 49 percent of females saying they game.

Men tend to play mobile games somewhat more frequently than women 44 percent of male respondents said they play once a week or more often, compared to 35 percent of female respondents.

But women play for longer stretches of time. Forty-one percent of women surveyed say their average mobile gaming session was 15 minutes or more, compared to 35 percent of men.