Characteristics of the social media platform and gamers
Popularity of gaming genres
The gamers using social networks, similarly to mobile gamers and gamers using browser games, most commonly play logic games. That genre has been indicated by 40% of the respondents. The second place is occupied by card games – 25% of the respondents, which constitutes by 15 percentage points less than logic games. 21% of the respondents prefer adventure and arcade games. MMO games and RPGs are the least popular among the respondents playing on social networks. 13% of the respondents cannot assign the game they play to a specific genre and that is the highest share among all five groups of gamers.
What type of games on social networks (e.g. on Facebook, nk.pl) do you play at least from time to time (at least once in the last month)? Base: Respondents who play social network games, N=400
Average time spent playing games
As there was not a sufficient number of answers to the question regarding gaming frequency in relation to specific genres in social networks, reliable results refer only to four of them: adventure games, online board games, card games and logic games. Other results have been marked out in dark on the chart, but they are left for the information of the readers.
Based on the analysis of the answers for four genres, it can be stated that their fans usually spend from 15 to 60 minutes playing.
How long does your gameplay for a given game usually last when you play games in social networks (e.g. on Facebook, nk.pl)?, Base: Respondents who play a given type of game
Gaming frequency
The results of Polish Gamers Research prove that in the case of games in social networks, the most engaging genre from the point of view of gaming frequency is logic games, which are played every day by 18% of Polish gamers. Two other genres, i.e., card games and adventure games, attract 12% of the respondents to playing every day. In the case of arcade/action games, only 4% spend some time on playing every day. The majority of gamers playing on social networks are involved in that activity from once to a few times a week.
How often do you play the following types of games on social networks (e.g. on Facebook, nk.pl)? Base: Respondents who play a given type of game
Sources of information about games
Where do gamers usually find information about games available on social networks? The principal source is the websites of those platforms, which provide information about new games to 30% of the respondents. The second most common source is family and friends. Such a response has been given by 26% of the gamers. Online advertisements have been indicated by 19% of the respondents. 13% of them mentioned advertisements implemented in other games. Only 8% of the respondents obtain information about new games from video materials on such services as YouTube. It is interesting that no person mentioned TV programmes about games as the source of information about the products available on social networks.
How do you find out about new games on social networks (e.g. on Facebook, nk.pl)? Base: Respondents who play social network games, N=400
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. The preferences regarding gaming style largely depend on the selected platform used by the gamers. In the case of games available on social networks, 41% of the respondents always play alone and 27% usually play alone. It would seem that the leading goal of social media – being in touch with your friends – should favour playing together, but there is no direct relation. On the other hand, 22% of the fans of social media games always or usually play in multiplayer mode and after adding the answers of those gamers who sometimes play with other people, the share of gamers using that platform who have ever played in multiplayer mode increases to 49%.
How do you usually play games on social networks (e.g. on Facebook, nk.pl)? Respondents who play games on social networks, N=400