iGaming Business – German secondary research organisation yStats.com has reported that players are continuing to move away from traditional gaming methods towards online gaming on mobile and social networks.
In a report entitled “EMEA Online Gaming Market 2014”, the organisation said that the move to mobile and social is most pronounced in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The Turkish and Polish emerging markets were ahead of western European countries in terms of the share of online gamers on internet users in 2013.
The Russian online gaming market grew by more than 20% in 2013 and the number of mobile gamers in the country is expected to surpass 60 million in 2016.
In the Middle East, more than 10% of mobile users in the United Arab Emirates download games on mobile.
Online gaming revenues in South Africa are expected grow by a small double-digit percentage between 2013 and 2017. Online and mobile gaming has gained popularity in other African countries.
Elsewhere, the report found that the UK led spending rates on digital game content in Europe while Germany was the leading country for average monthly revenue per paying user.
Over one third of mobile gamers in the UK opted to play games on tablet device and over half of tablet owners played games.
The digital gaming market in France grew by more than 10% in 2013, while the largest group of gamers in Belgium played social or casual games, with the mobile gaming audience also being “significant”.
