Mobile and social gaming taking off in emerging markets

The online gaming market grew in Russia by more than 20% in 2013 and the number of mobile gamers in the country is expected to surpass 60 million by the year 2016. And in the Middle East, more than 10% of mobile users in the United Arab Emirates download games on mobile devises. Turkey and Poland surged beyond western European countries in the internet gaming sector.

It goes without saying that the trend in online gambling is towards mobile and social internet gaming for real money. Now the German secondary research group yStats.com has recently reported that players are continuing to go from traditional gaming methods such as lap tops and desk tops towards online gaming on mobile devises with some social networking.

The report also found that the United Kingdom led spending rates on digital game content in Europe while Germany was the leading country for average monthly revenue per paying user. Over 33 percent of mobile gamers in the United Kingdom chose to play games on a tablet device and over half of tablet owners played games. 

The report also revealed that online gaming revenues in South Africa areis expected to expand slowly but consistently in the next three years. Other African nations also have gained significant growth in the online gaming market.

By comparison the virtual gaming market in France grew by more than 10% in 2013, while the largest group of gamers in Belgium played social or casual games, with the growth of the mobile gaming consumer base also showing, “significant” expansion.

While marketing reports offer some proof of the ongoing trend to mobile and social gaming in the jurisdictions mentioned, the trend can vary widely from area to area depending on the regulatory platform set up by these jurisdictions.