SUPPLEMENTAL SURVEY RESULTS
PREPARED BY
INFORMATION SOLUTIONS GROUP FOR:
AT&T WIRELESS & POPCAP GAMES
MOBILE GAME PLAYER SURVEY
PR Contact:
415-602-8147
A wealth of valuable data regarding the how and why
people play games on their mobile phones was derived from this research. The items presented in blue, represent
additional data points that were not included in the primary press release, but
may be of interest to those seeking additional depth.
SEATTLE, Washington – May 4, 2009 —AT&T
wireless customers are turning to their wireless devices to do more than talk
and text. PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, today
announced results of a new survey that shows 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.
Fun
and Stress Relief on The Go: Times and Reasons for Playing
§
The
top three benefits derived from playing mobile games were identified as: “Distraction
from daily life issues” (52%); “Relaxation and stress relief” (40%); and
“improved mood” (12%).
§
52%
of mobile gamers say they play mobile games during work hours and one in seven
(14%) mobile gamers chose “during my work day, when I need a short break” as
the time when they most often play games on their phone.
§
60% of all
mobile gamers selected “while waiting for an appointment” as a time when they
play mobile games, with “during the day on weekdays” being cited by 34% of
respondents and “when traveling on vacation” and “on the weekend” tying for
third with 25% of respondents choosing each.
Mobile
Games Consumption: Among mobile gamers,
§
59% indicated they play games on their phone at least once a
month; 40% said they played weekly or more often, while 41% said they played
less than once per month.
§
91%
of mobile gaming sessions are 30 minutes or less; fully 62% are less than 15
minutes. 71% of
mobile gamers play games on their phone for less than an hour per week; more
than half (52%) of those who play daily said they play for three or more hours
per week.
§
Over
three quarters (78%) of mobile gamers have been playing games on their phone for
more than a year, and 55% of those say they’ve been playing for 3+ years.
§
On
average, nearly a quarter (22.2%) of a mobile gamer’s total game playing time
occurs on their mobile phone.
Purchasing
Plans and Influencers
§
Just
over a quarter (26%) of mobile gamers said they’ve paid for a mobile game.
(Across all mobile phone owners, including those who have never played a game
on their phone, this equates to 15% having purchased a game.) More than three
quarters (76%) of mobile gamers said they had played free games that came
pre-installed on their phone, and a third (33%) indicated they had downloaded
one or more free games to their phone.
§
The
top factors influencing a mobile gamer’s decision to buy a mobile game were
“game is in a genre I like” (61%), “price of the game is reasonable” (52%) and
“played demo version and liked it” (50%).
When asked to
choose the single most important factor in their mobile games purchasing
decision, respondents picked the same three choices, as follows: “played demo
version and liked it,” (28%), “game is
in a genre I like” (27%) and “price of the game is reasonable” (18%).
§
Mobile
gamers who have purchased one or more mobile games have on average purchased a
total of 7.2 mobile games.
Respondents
who’ve been playing mobile games for 3 years or more have purchased 8 mobile
games, on average, compared to just over 4 games purchased by the average
mobile gamer who’s been playing for less than a year.
§
26%
said they’d purchased four or more games in the past year, with the
longest-standing mobile gamers indicating they’d purchased the least number of
mobile games in the past year, compared to other survey respondents.
Survey participants
who have been playing mobile games for more than 5 years indicated they
purchased an average of 3 mobile games in the past year, compared to 4.7 games
purchased by mobile gamers who have been playing mobile games for 1-2 years.
(Even those who indicated they’ve been playing mobile games for less than a
year said that on average they’d purchased 3.5 mobile games in the past year.)
§
One
third (32%) of all mobile gamers said they were “somewhat or very likely” to
purchase a game for their cell phone in 2009.
Among
“frequent” mobile gamers, the likelihood of purchasing games in 2009 is much
higher: half of those who play 1-3 times per week say they’re likely to
purchase one or more mobile games this year, and 75% of those who play daily
say they’re likely to buy one or more games this calendar year. Those who said
they were “very likely” to purchase one or more mobile games in 2009 have on
average purchased 12 mobile games in their lifetime, compared to less than 5
(4.8) games on average among those who said “somewhat unlikely.”
§
Among
mobile gamers 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%), “none
of the games interest me enough to buy” (15%), and “lack of time to play”
(14%).
Favorites
and Attractors
§
Tetris
(20%) and Bejeweled (18%) were most frequently named as “games you enjoy
playing on your cell phone,” with Solitaire a close third (17%).
§
The
most popular genres of mobile games
are Puzzle (66%) and Card/Casino (51%), with Board games (15%) and
Action/Adventure (11%) a distant third and fourth.
§
When
asked to name the most compelling characteristics that “motivate mobile game
players to play the same game numerous times on their cell phone,” respondents
cited “relaxing game play” (62%) and “addictiveness” (30%) as the top two
influencers.
§
86% of mobile
gamers also play video games on one or more other devices. The most popular
gaming devices among mobile gamers, other than mobile phones, were: Computer
(76%); Console: (41%); and Handheld game device (24%). Fully 17% of mobile
gamers consider their mobile phone to be their primary device for playing video
games. Among all mobile phone gamers, 53% signified their desktop or laptop
computer, and 23% indicated their video game console, as the device on which
they play games most often.
§
Just 12% of
mobile gamers say they play “hardcore” games, either on a cell phone or other
device.
Gender
Divide – Male and Female
§
Mobile
gamers are very evenly split across genders, with 51% male and 49% female.
§
Men
tend to play mobile games somewhat more frequently than women; 44% of male
respondents said they play once a week or more often, compared to 35% of female
respondents. But women play for longer stretches: 41% of women said their
average mobile gaming session was 15 minutes or more, compared to 35% of men,
and 11% of
women said their typical mobile gaming session lasts more than a half hour,
compared to 7% of men.
§
Men play more
at work: 28% of men said they take short mobile game breaks during their work
day, compared to 17% of women.
§
When asked
“when do you play games on your phone most often?” males chose “while waiting
for an appointment” as their top choice (26%), as did females (45%). Among men,
“during my work day, when I need a short break” was the second most common time
to play (13%), while among women the second most popular time to play was “at
night before I go to bed” (9%).
§
When making
the decision to purchase a game for their mobile phone, women are twice as
likely (28% vs. 14% of men) to do so based on having played the game in
question on another device such as a computer. Conversely, 30% of males
indicated that printed or online reviews factor into their mobile game
purchasing decision, compared to just 8% of females.
Survey
Methodology
This international research was conducted by Information Solutions
Group (ISG; www.infosolutionsgroup.com)
exclusively for PopCap Games. The results are based on online surveys completed
by 1,163 respondents randomly selected between February 12 and March 6,
2009. The audience
consisted of North American customers of AT&T’s mobile phone services; 337
were men and 322 were women. In theory, in 19 cases out of 20, the results will
differ by no more than 3.8 percentage points from what would have been obtained
by seeking out and polling all AT&T mobile phone customers age 18 and over.
Smaller subgroups reflect larger margins of sampling error. Other sources of error, such as variations in
the order of questions or the wording within the questionnaire, may also
contribute to different results.
About PopCap
PopCap
Games (www.popcap.com) is the leading multi-platform provider of “casual
games” — fun, easy-to-learn, irresistible computer games that appeal to
everyone from age 6 to 106. Based in
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The
PopCap logo and all other trademarks used herein that are listed at
www.popcap.com/trademarks are owned by PopCap Games, Inc. or its licensors and
may be registered in some countries. Other company and product names used
herein may be trademarks of their respective owners and are used for the
benefit of those owners.