More women than men play games in the UK

Women now account for a bigger share of the UK games market than males.

That’s according to the Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB) whose recent survey discovered that females account for 52 per cent of those who’ve played some form of video games in the last six months. That number stood at 49 per cent three years ago.

This growth is driven by the popularity of trivia, word and puzzle games, which are played by 56 per cent of women gamers aged 45 or over and half of those aged 25-44.

The data comes from a survey of 4,058 British resident interviewed face-to-face in June.

In addition, more people over the age of 44 play games than kids or teenagers, accounting for 27 per cent of the market compared to 22 per cent. Over half of those aged 45-54 (56 per cent), nearly half of those aged 45-54 (44 per cent) and a third (32 per cent) of 65-74s have played games in the last six months.

Of the games acquired in the last six months, 61 per cent were free-to-play and 55 per cent were delivered in the form of apps. 40 per cent were disc-based games.

And here’s an interesting addition – 61 per cent of gamers are happy for ads to appear in games if it makes them free.

The total British games playing audience now stands at an estimated 33.5m – that’s 69 per cent of the population. Unsurprisingly smartphones are now the most popular gaming devices, being played by 54 per cent.

The internet and mobile devices have changed the gaming landscape forever,” IAB’s director of data and industry programmes Steve Chester said.

They’ve brought down the barriers to entry, making gaming far more accessible and opened it up to a whole new audience. In the past you needed to go out and buy an expensive console and the discs on top to get a decent experience, now you can just download a free app.”