66 percent of Canadian gamers play online on smartphones: study

Canadians sure do like their mobile games.

According to data collected by SuperData on behalf of PayPal Canada, 66 percent of Canadian gamers play their games online on smartphones as their device of choice.

In comparison, 40 percent of Canadian gamers said they prefer playing online on tablets, while 34 percent noted that they favour laptops instead.

Outside of mobile, Canadian gamers chose the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox 360 as their favourite consoles to play on.

Altogether, SuperData says Canadian gamers spend an average of 52 hours every month playing online games, with 45 percent playing online or mobile games every day.

PwC, a UK-based professional services network cited in SuperData’s report, estimates that annual revenues in Canada’s online gaming industry sit at around $40 million CAD. Further, annual revenues are expected to grow around 23 percent over the next five years. In fact, PwC says Canada’s online gaming market is experiencing stronger growth than that of Italy and Spain combined. 

Overall, Canadian gamers spend an average of $200 per year on full online games, compared with a yearly spend of $128 on in-game content. 

In terms of where Canadians are spending their money on games, SuperData found that the most popular online gaming storefronts were Google Play (30 percent), Steam (26 percent), Apple App Store (26 percent) and PlayStation Network (25 percent).

Finally, SuperData also found that 71 percent of regular Canadian mobile gamers are female, while 56 percent of Canadian console/PC players are male. The average Canadian gamer overall is aged 35, according to SuperData — eight years younger than the average U.S. gamer.

SuperData the study for PayPal between February and March 2018 across 25 markets with 25,000 active paying gamers interviewed globally.

Source: PayPal Canada