LONDON: Forty-eight percent of Internet users played a game on a desktop or laptop PC in the last month, according to the GlobalWebIndex.
It’s very nearly an equal split in terms of gender, too, with 47% of survey respondents identifying as female and 48% as male.
Data gathered for the GlobalWebIndex’s Q3-Q4 2014 report informed the analysis, covering an age range of 16 to 64 years old.
In terms of global spread, Chinese and Turkish net users are most likely to play PC games, with China at the peak of GWI’s top ten on 59% and Turkey on 58%.
Thailand (53%), Vietnam (52%) and Taiwan (51%) are the geographic chart’s other countries to pass the 50% mark, and in doing so round out its top five.
Those three, along with Brazil (50%) are identified as fast-growth markets, while China up until early 2014 upheld an official ban on non-Chinese consoles.
It’s something that Nintendo accommodated by forming a local manufacturing partnership, while Microsoft and Sony waited until laws were changed: the Xbox One launched in September 2014, the PlayStation 4 and Vita six months later in March 2015.
South America and South-East Asia are represented by Brazil, Argentina and the Philippines, while Canada and North America also make the top 10, but European countries are entirely absent.
GWI Trend Analyst, Felim McGrath, provides further contextual information by indicating that “the older age profile of some European internet populations” has a bearing on the report’s regional findings.
That was thought to have a particular impact on the UK and Germany where PC gaming uptake stood at around 33%.
Assertions that youth seems to have the advantage bear out in an age group analysis. Globally speaking, 25 to 34-year-olds were most likely to use a computer for gaming purposes (54%), with 16 to 24-year-olds not far behind (52%).
Still, for anyone that thought the middle-aged or grandparent demographic were completely absent from this digital pastime, GWI’s results are illuminating: 48% of 35 to 44-year-olds were monthly PC gamers, with 38% of 45 to 54-year-olds also getting in on things and 34% of 55 to 64-year-olds also responding in the affirmative.
