• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 15, 2009

PopCap Games announced results of a new survey that shows 57% of AT&T wireless customers who were polled play mobile games on their wireless devices. On average, these gamers purchase four mobile games per year, and 17% of mobile gamers consider their cell phone to be their primary device for playing video games.

50% say they play mobile games during work hours, while one in seven mobile gamers say they most often play games on their phone during work when they need a short break. 60% percent play games on their wireless device at least once a month, and 40% said they played weekly or more often.

Michael Cai, vice president of video games research at Interpret LLC, notes that "Adoption of mobile games continues to grow, but conversion rate (free to paid players) remains low... more innovative games... are among the keys to unlocking the potential of the mobile gaming market."

Mobile gaming serves as a distraction and stress relief for on-the-go consumers and is poised for growth in 2009:

• One-third of AT&T mobile gamers surveyed said they were "somewhat or very likely" to purchase a game for their cell phone in 2009.
• 91% of mobile gaming sessions are 30 minutes or less; 62% are less than 15 minutes
• 78% of mobile gamers have been playing games on their phone for more than a year, and 55% of those say they've been playing for 3+ years
• 22.2% of mobile gamers' total game playing time occurs on their mobile phones

26% of mobile gamers said they paid for a mobile game, equating to 15% of all mobile phone owners having purchased a game. 76% of mobile gamers said they have played free games that came pre-installed on their phone, and 33% indicated they have downloaded one or more free games to their phone.

• The top factors influencing participants' decisions to buy a mobile game were "game is in a genre I like" (61%), "price of the game is reasonable" (52%) and "played demo version and liked it" (50%)
• Survey respondents who have purchased one or more mobile games have purchased an average of 7.2 mobile games; 26% said they'd purchased four or more games in the past year
• Respondents who indicated they would not be buying a mobile game in 2009, say: they are "happy with free games" (24%), "none of the games interest me enough to buy" (15%), and "lack of time to play" (14%)

51% of males and 49% of females say they "game," but:

• 44% of male respondents said they play once a week or more often, compared to 35% of female respondents
• 41% of women surveyed say their average mobile gaming session was 15 minutes or more, compared to 35% of men

Women are twice as likely (28% vs. 14% of men) to purchase a game based on having played the game in question on another device such as a computer, while 30% of males say that printed or online reviews factor into their mobile game purchasing decision, compared to just 8% of females.

Supplemental survey results may be found here, or visit PopCap here for more information about the study.