Britons spent £170m on mobile games in 2009

British mobile phone users spent £170m last year on video games they could play on their handsets, a survey reveals.

The survey revealed that just 700,000 iPhone users played games on the device, but that 85 per cent of these mobile gamers were happy to pay for titles

More than eight million people in Britain use their mobile phones to play games, according to the National Gamers Survey. Around 3.8 million pay for these games, while around 4.2 million play games that are either free to download or already installed on their phone.

Sony Ericsson users accounted for the highest number of mobile gamers, with 2.3m saying they used their handset to play games. Nokia and Samsung handsets also proved popular gaming platforms, with 1.8m Nokia users and 1.5m Samsung owners playing games on their devices.

By contrast, just 700,000 Apple iPhone users questioned said they used their device for playing games, but 85 per cent of those that did regularly paid to download titles to their phone. Just 38 per cent of Nokia and Sony Ericsson users paid for their games, compared to 51 per cent of Samsung owners, and 41 per cent of LG users.

“The iPhone does not have the number of users that other handset brands do, but is extremely good at monetising the popularity of games on mobile phones," said Peter Warman of Gamesindustry.com.

"This has also clearly had its effect on the conversion to paying gamers of the large operators closely related to iPhone.”

The survey, conducted by TNS and Gamesindustry.com, questioned 13,000 people across the UK, the United States, France, Germany and Belgium.

It found that one third of those who paid for their mobile games spent more than £5 per month buying and downloading the latest titles, and that the split between male and female players was fairly even, with 53 per cent of those paying for mobile games being male.

Phone owners between the ages of 20 and 34 accounted for 39 per cent of all mobile gamers, and 60 per cent of those prepared to pay for mobile games. Teenagers, by contrast, represented just 18 per cent of mobile gamers, and 15 per cent of those prepared to pay for games.

The survey highlighted the fact that around half of all mobile gamers are married, "confirming the mainstream appeal and reach of mobile games".

However, only 14 per cent of mobile gamers in the UK play every day, although that increases to 18 per cent among those phone owners who regularly pay for games. Most mobile gamers spend between 15 minutes and an hour playing games on the device, with puzzle games the most popular category among all players. Strategy games, driving and racing games, and classic arcade-style games are also favourites.

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