Survey reveals more than 8 million mobile gamers in the UK

A new survey as part of the UK National Gamers Survey Report has taken a closer look at the number of mobile gamers in the UK, now revealed to be in excess of 8 million.

Perhaps more importantly than the numbers, however, is that the survey reveals people are pay more - and paying more frequently - for their mobile content than ever before, as Peter Warman of GamesIndustry.com (which helped conduct the survey) explains:

"For years, mobile phones have been praised as the new gaming platform, but typical for the telecoms industry, clear data has been lacking. This report reveals these facts for the first time. One of the most interesting insights is on the ability to monetize mobile game content.

"The iPhone does, by far, not have the number of users but is extremely good at monetizing the popularity of games on mobile phones. This has also clearly had its effect on the conversion to paying gamers of the large operators closely related to iPhone. We are pleased to announce SFR (France) as our first mobile client."

It also showed that the split between male and female gamers in the UK was all but even, as was the average age range of mobile users who play games on their handsets.

The 8 million players are divided up between a great many different handsets, but the report proves the mobile sector of the games industry to be the most prolific of the last decade.