PopCap has revealed the results of its most recent National Gamers Survey, adding weight to the belief that the games industry is one of the fastest growing in the world - though not necessarily in all areas, equally.

The survey, conducted by marketing research firm Newzoo, focused on adults playing games in Europe, and provides some interesting stats - not least that over half of Europe’s adults are a part of the gaming revolution.

Multinational stat attack

A rundown of gaming habits country by country revealed UK gamers spending 10 percent of their games budget on mobile games.

Of course, consoles were the largest single spend, accounting for 44 percent of gaming cash (an estimated £3.6 billion in the UK). The rest of their money was spent on casual game sites (11 percent) and social networks (6 percent).

In France, the habits are similar, with the same 10 percent spent on mobile and 44 percent spent on consoles. The rest of a French adult gamer’s funds are spent on casual game sites (10 percent) and social networks (6 percent).

They spend the most money per player though, an average of £22.30 per month, compared to £18.60 per player each month in the UK.

The Germans shake things up a bit, with only 8 percent of their budgets spent on mobile games, 34 percent is spent on consoles, 8 percent on casual sites and 4 percent on social networks.

Gender specific

Of the three countries, the UK has the largest population percentage of gaming adults, with 68 percent of men and 59 percent of women involved. In France, 61 percent of men and 52 percent of women play, whereas in Germany 64 percent of men and 54 percent of women actively call themselves gamers.

The diversity of players and the rising number of platforms has given PopCap Europe general manager Paul Breslin cause for thought.

“What these results tell us is that a one size fits all strategy for Europe doesn’t work as there are quite different platform gaming habits, needs and expectations between France, Germany and the UK,” he said.

“This is clearly a maturing market that has by no means finished evolving. People want to play a range of different games across different platforms. From a publisher’s perspective, this shows the importance of having diversity and multi-platform solutions to reach individual markets in these important regions.”

[Source: PopCap]