New Numbers for Gaming by Phone

Electronic Gaming Business, June 30, 2004

Worldwide mobile game publisher and services provider In-Fusio's (www.infusio.com) latest survey of 400 cell phone gamers in France offers a too-rare glimpse of how mobile games are actually being played.

* 42% of mobile gamers are aged 18-24.

* 36% of mobile gamers are over age 25, up dramatically from 22% in 2002.

* 58% of mobile games are played at home.

* 20 minutes is the average length of a mobile game session.

* 87% of new phone buyers were aware their handset came with games bundled, and a third of those considered it a key selling point.

That a majority of mobile games are actually played at home and for 20 minutes or more seems to undermine the "games on the go" vision many propose. After all, how often do you see someone playing a cell phone game in public? With little visible evidence that people are squeezing a few minutes of handheld gaming in during what analysts like to call "micro-time" (waiting rooms, taxi rides, etc.), we need much more rigorous research on actual mobile usage. If 58% of mobile games are being played at home, then in what setting, and in place of what other media or even gaming forms?

[Copyright 2004 PBI Media, LLC. All rights reserved.]