'No sleep: Must game' - research hints at the rise of binge gaming on mobile
Four hours and 36 minutes – that's how long the average 'binge gaming' session lasts, according to a new gaming research report from cloud provider LimeLight Networks.
Binge gaming is apparently becoming something of a trend amongst young gamers aged between 18-25, who play an average of six hours 34 minutes in one session.
Globally, casual single player games such as Candy Crush, Angry Birds,and Spider Solitaire, are the most popular, followed by first person shooter games including Call of Duty, Destiny 2 and Overwatch. FPS games increased in popularity by more than six percent in the past year.
Breaking the stats down to region, gamers in Japan have the longest average binge-gaming time at five and a half hours – and 9% of gamers say they've played games for more than 15 hours in one session. But it is one of the esports capitals of the world, after all..
Some people are even missing sleep, meals and showers to keep on playing. Singaporeans are most likely to game rather than sleep. Globally, 33% of gamers will skip meals and 22% will skip showers.
The report attributes some of the rise in binge gaming to 'anywhere, anytime' gaming – in other words, mobile and tablet gaming.
There was a 13% increase in people who use mobile phones as their main gaming device.
Console-less gaming services (like Google Stadia for example), is also piquing gamers' interests – 44% of the 3500 respondents say they're interested in it.
Those who call themselves expert gamers and aspiring professionals are most likely to be interested in console-less gaming.
The report found that 57% of gamers say that high price points and performance issues such as latency (20%) as the top reasons they wouldn't subscribe to the idea.
"Players are excited about the flexibility of console-less gaming," says Limelight Networks senior director Michael Milligan. "As the world of gaming is being redefined, wide adoption depends on low latency solutions that eliminate frustrating performance disruptions and delays. Keeping gamers engaged requires innovative technology that powers real-time, interactive gaming at the edge.
Most global gamers (87%) find the process of downloading games frustrating. One-third (32%) note slow download speed is their primary concern. Frustrations with download speed are the highest with expert gamers (41%) and aspiring professionals (58%).
The State of Online Gaming Report surveyed 4500 people aged 18 or older who game at least once per week. Respondents were from Asia Pacific, Europe, and the United States.
