Telecom Lead Europe: Smartphones and tablets have
increased the popularity and consumption of mobile games among the U.K and U.S
adults, reveals a survey conducted by PopCap Games, a division of EA.
9 percent adults surveyed became a new mobile gamer in
the past year by playing one or more games on a recently acquired tablet.
Smartphone adoption among mobile gamers increased 16
percent at 71 percent in 2012. Also, 36 percent of mobile gamers now own a
tablet.
12 percent of all mobile gamers play only on a tablet.
Additionally, 57 percent of dual device owners play daily compared to 41
percent of single device owners.
The survey reveals that tablets such as iPad, Kindle and
galaxy tabs have brought approximately 11 million new mobile gamers into the
fold in the past 12 months.
Phones with better gaming experience and free games
further augment the market. 70 percent of the adults say that they play games
because they are free, while 47 percent says that acquiring new phone has enabled
them to play game.
However, 25 percent of adults say that they started
playing games after purchasing a tablet.
The mobile gaming industry is surging due to a broadening
audience and new developments in play and spending habits. The growth in mobile
game market is driven by innovation in casual games that attract users from
both genders and from all age groups.
Smartphone adoption continues apace and tablet adoption
has added considerable fuel to the fire. Even more important, consumers are
embracing the shift toward freemium games and other add-on game content
purchases, driving the dramatic and rapid shift in the forms of monetization
being used by developers and publishers,” said Dennis Ryan, VP of Worldwide
Publishing at PopCap.
With increasing social networking users, social games
have started competing with mobile games. However, the study says that mobile
game industry the hottest sector of the video game industry and this bandwagon
will go ahead infuture.
Mobile gaming revenues to exceed $16 billion in 2016
Earlier, ABI Research predicted that the mobile gaming
industry will grow from less than $5 billion in 2011 to more than $16 billion
in 2016.
