British 3G Subscribers Prefer Puzzle & Retro Games

Puzzle/Strategy and Retro/Arcade mobile games are the top game genres among UK 3G mobile game players, according to Telephia. Telephia's Q2 2006 U.K. 3G Subscriber Report shows that 61% or nearly two-thirds of UK 3G mobile game players downloaded a Puzzle/Strategy mobile game, while Retro/Arcade games secured a 45% penetration rate. Action/Adventure and Card/Casino games secured 42 and 39 percent of downloads, respectively, followed by Trivia/Word (32%) and Sports/Racing (30%) games.

Among U.K. operators, Puzzle/Strategy games had an especially strong showing with Vodafone's 3G mobile game players posting a 70% penetration rate. Overall, nearly a third of all UK 3G subscribers reported that they have downloaded games to their mobile device.

"Casual games dominate the mobile game market both in the USA and in the UK," said Bernard Brenner, Director of New Products--International, Telephia. "Their popularity reflects increased work and social time pressures on mobile users, as casual games do not require a substantial investment of time on the part of the user."

Top UK 3G Subscriber Mobile Game Genres

Source: Telephia U.K. 3G Subscriber Report, Q2 2006

Downloaded Games Played Offline are Preferred over Online Game Play

According to Telephia, 7 out of 10 UK 3G subscribers who play mobile games prefer to download games to their mobile devices to be played offline. Though optimized for the speed of 3G service, online gaming did not fare as well among 3G subscribers, with only 5-7 percent preferring any type of online mobile games.

"Offline mobile gaming is the most prevalent choice among 3G game players, suggesting that mobile games continue to be a time-to-kill application as opposed to an activity destination," continued Brenner.

Most Preferred Mobile Game Type Among UK 3G Subscribers

Source: Telephia U.K. 3G Subscriber Report, Q2 2006"

Posted to the site on 13th July 2006