Characteristics of mobile gamers

Operating systems and reason for resigning from installing games

The Polish market of mobile games for smartphones and tablets is dominated by Android by Google, indicated by the vast majority of gamers (89%). Apple devices with iOS have been chosen only by 8% of the respondents. While analysing the share of mobile operating systems around the world in May 2020, when the share of Android amounted to 74%, it can be noticed that the number of gamers using Android is higher.

It is interesting to note that many Poles are still quite sentimental about Nokia. In the period of the mobile phone revolution, that brand was the most popular on the Polish market. Therefore, it is not surprising that 4% of the Polish gamers still use a Windows Phone. The Harmony system, developed by Chinese Huawei company, mainly as a result of the Chinese and American business and technology war, was chosen by only 1% of Polish gamers.

Chart 1. Why do you not install games from the application store for your device (e.g. Google Play, App Store, AppGallery)? Base: Respondents who don’t install games from the application store N=75

Chart 2. What operating system is installed on your phone or tablet? Base: Respondents who play on a smartphone or tablet N=70

The analysis of the most popular sources of new games for mobile devices expressly proves that Polish gamers are the most willing to download games from official stores such as Google Store or App Store, as well as other websites of the producers. Only 22% of the respondents use games preinstalled by the supplier of the mobile device, while 2% choose completely other sources.

Where do the games you play on your phone or tablet come from? Base: Respondents who play on a smartphone or tablet N=708

There are a few reasons why gamers do not decide to install new games using digital platforms/mobile game stores. The first one (specified by 40% of the respondents) is simply no need to do so. The second one is the lack of free memory on their device (19%). 16% of the respondents admitted that they did not have the required skills and used old telephone models which did not support the games. In 2017, only 7% of the gamers declared that they used equipment too old to run the current games. The segment of the older generation gamers who rarely replace their phones with new ones may constitute a new group of recipients if they are offered educational services related to using mobile devices. 15% of the respondents install games from other sources and 13% receive assistance of other persons in installing games, which constitutes an increase by 4% in relation to the results of the research published in 2017.

Popularity of gaming genres

The most popular genre specified by the respondents using mobile devices are logic games, which are played by 51% of Poles. In that scope, the trends have not changed within the last six years. The second place with the result of 28% is taken by card games (different than those simulating casino games, which were indicated by 8% of the respondents) and arcade games. The fourth place is occupied by adventure games with the result of 22%. 20% of the respondents chose strategic games. The difference in popularity of specific game genres is still visible depending on the platform. Popular games played on personal computers and consoles, such as racing, adventure, RPGs, FPS or sports games are significantly less popular among the respondents using mobile devices, a group dominated by females.

What type of games do you play on your smartphone or tablet from time to time (at least once in the last month)? Base: Respondents who play games on a phone or tablet, N=508

Average time spent playing games

Gaming sessions of mobile gamers are relatively the shortest in comparison to the other platforms. Mobile gamers usually spend from 15 to 60 minutes on a single session. Strategic and adventure games constitute an exception, as in the case of those two genres, 13% of the fans spend from 61 to 120 minutes on a single session. In the case of an insufficient number of indications of a given category, the results have been excluded from the analysis and marked out in dark. They are presented for review only.

How long does it usually take to play a given game when you play games on your smartphone or tablet? Base: Respondents who play a given type of game

Gaming frequency

The most popular genre among mobile gamers, i.e., logic games, are also played the most frequently. 22% of Poles using the mobile platform play them every day. It is interesting that with respect to gaming frequency, the second place is occupied by adventure games with the result of 18%. Further on, there are arcade games (17%) and strategic games (15%).

How often do you play the following types of games on your smartphone or tablet? Base: Respondents who play a given type of game

Gaming style. Playing alone or with other people

The gathered data presents the gaming style on specific platforms in reference to other participating gamers or lack thereof. In the case of mobile gamers, it is noticeable that they constitute the group usually preferring to play alone (64%). That trend has not changed since 2014.

How do you usually play games on your smartphone or tablet? Base: Respondents who play games on a phone or tablet, N=508