APAC gamers lead the globe on most time spent gaming per week

Data from YouGov’s Global Gaming & E-sports 2023 whitepaper covering 18 international markets shows Asian markets dominate the gaming market, registering a high proportion of engaged weekly gamers across the region.

YouGov’s Global Gaming & E-sports whitepaper 2023: Reaching Gamers- Everywhere explores the profile and behaviors of global gamers, the types of media activities undertaken, and reveals what keeps consumers entertained. The insights in this report were drawn from a recent global YouGov Survey covering 18 global markets and more than 19,000 respondents that tried to understand the changing media and entertainment industry landscape, how consumers are engaging with non-traditional and digital media channels, and where gaming fits as part of this picture.

Across the globe, China remains the biggest market for gaming with three in ten (29%) Chinese consumers claiming to spend most of their time gaming each week. After China, Hong Kong (23%), Indonesia (19%), and Singapore (18%) report a high proportion of engaged weekly gamers. The proportion of adults who claim to spend most of their time gaming compared to other media activities is lower in the European markets.

The data shows that Asian markets also report the highest average number of hours played each week among gamers. China leads the table with 11.3 hours, which is more than two hours higher than the global average of 8.9. Other APAC markets where the average number of gameplay hours surpasses the global average or is at par with it are Singapore (9.8 hours), Hong Kong (9.7 hours), Australia (9.3 hours), and Indonesia (8.7 hours).

When it comes to the device used for gaming, smartphones are the top device used amongst weekly gamers globally (64%). Interestingly, women are much more likely to play video games on mobile devices than men (71% vs. 59%).

Using smartphones to play video games is notably higher in APAC with Indonesia reporting the highest proportion of smartphone gamers (86%). Other Asian markets where three-quarters or more use smartphones for this purpose are India (80%), Hong Kong (79%), Singapore (79%), and China (75%).

After smartphones, Desktop/laptops are the most used gaming device globally (40%). Although mobile devices have opened the gates to casual gaming in a big way, the likes of Xbox and PlayStation continue to appeal to gaming enthusiasts with a third (34%) of weekly gamers using dedicated gaming consoles to play video games.

Whilst China and India are the two leading gaming markets for desktop/laptop gamers, higher proportions of console weekly gamers are from North America and Europe. Notably, Great Britain has the highest percentage of users, with an almost equal proportion playing video games on consoles (48%) as those who use smartphones (49%). Other leading markets for console gaming included Mexico, Sweden, and Germany.

Despite the gaming potential of VR and the steady rise of the metaverse, the adoption of VR headsets remains low, with only 6% of weekly global gamers using VR headsets during their gaming sessions.

If you want to understand the behavior of gamers in detail, download the full report here.

Ed.  Photo by Javier Martinez on Unsplash.