UK Gamer Profile Digital Entertainment Natives

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The 20,000 Foot View: Mobile and PC gamer penetration  declined slightly in the UK between        2016 and        2017. Meanwhile, console ownership did not grow either, attesting that the market is constrained by the impending peak in the attention economy. It is becoming harder to compete for attention and engagement, precisely at the wrong time. Growth in the UK gaming market will depend less on unit sales and increasingly rely upon improved engagement and average revenue per user (ARPU),  which inherently means competing with other media formats. Whether you are a gaming platform, mobile network, TV station or a music service, gaming is one of the key media behaviours of your users. Rather than being a zero-sum game of competition for attention, gaming can be linked with other media to foster consumers’ loyalty to digital ecosystems.  

Key Findings

• Gamer penetration in the UK declined from               2016, to               2017, for mobile gamers, and        to        for PC gamers
• UK Console ownership remained flat, from        in        2016 to               2017
• Flat penetration in gaming means that growth will come from improved ARPU, which requires strong engagement
• UK PC gamers skew male, while UK mobile gamers skew female. Console ownership bridges the gap with near equal gender distribution
       of UK PC gamers are aged        while younger consumers are adopting mobile gaming and consoles significantly more than pc gaming
• UK gamers’ preferred TV genres are kids content, horror and sci-fi 
• At        weekly Netflix usage has become a mainstream activity for console owners, and is near mainstream among mobile gamers       
• Netflix is the largest premium video provider for UK households among console owners:        of UK’s console owners had a Netflix subscription in their households
• Gamers        mobile gamers,        console owners) are more likely to have a pay-TV subscription in their household than average consumers       
• Gamers        mobile gamers,        console owners) are likely to cut cords faster than average consumer       
• UK gamers        mobile gamers,        console owners) are more likely to listen to music on their phones than on home speakers        mobile gamers and        console owners)

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon, Amazon Echo, Amazon Prime Music, Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Apple Music, BT TV, Deezer, Epic Games, Fortnite, Now TV, Sky, Soundcloud, Spotify, Talk Talk TV, Twitch, Virgin TV, YouTube