43pc of mobile gamers on Facebook are parents & 47pc are women

The gaming industry is at an all-time high and has become a $99 billion market, with mobile games accounting for $36 billion of that in 2016, according to market researcher Newzoo. Tech titan Facebook who also has a big share in all kinds of game ad revenue has come up with its own statistics to prove the numbers.

A study based on data from 12 countries by Facebook shows that 43 percent of mobile gamers are parents, and those parents mostly play during the prime-time TV hours of 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Among mobile game parents who spend money, 90 percent play mobile games as a family activity. Eighty-nine percent play mobile games with kids as an educational activity, and 83 percent buy mobile game apps for their kids.

Smartphone beat PCs in this segment too. 71 percent of the gaming audience plays on smartphones, compared to 64 percent of PCs, 34 percent on tablets, and 26 percent on consoles. Among mobile gamers, 45 percent play while waiting, 44 percent play while commuting or traveling, and 21 percent play while at work.

Among men and women, more women play on mobile. Forty-seven percent of smartphone gamers are female, compared to 46 percent on a tablet, 41 percent of PCs, and 33 percent on consoles. Among women, the top genres are puzzle strategy, casual/social, action, and card games. For men, the top genres are the strategy, action, sports, puzzle, and role-playing games.

Between developing markets and developed markets, gamers in developing markets are 1.8 times more likely to use their smartphone as the primary gaming device. They also spend 16 minutes more per session on their smartphones and play 1.6 times more gaming sessions per week on smartphones.

As expected, 68 percent of mobile game spenders discover games on social network platforms and 57 percent find games via photo and video services. The Facebook study was based on a survey of adults (conducted by TNS for Facebook IQ) in Brazil, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.