Time spent gaming in Southeast Asia up 53% after post-pandemic drop
Nice console games
Players
in
Southeast
Asia
are
engaging
more
with
video
games
in
2024,
with
a
53.2%
year-on-year
increase
in
the
average
individual
weekly
gaming
time.
That’s
according
to
a
Niko
Partners’
new
SEA-6
Gamer
Behaviour
and
Market
Insights
Report
shared
with
GamesIndustry.biz,
which
explores
the
current
trends
in
the
six
key
Southeast
Asian
markets:
Indonesia,
Malaysia,
Philippines,
Singapore,
Thailand
and
Vietnam.
The
latter
two
nations
saw
the
highest
year-on-year
increase
in
time
spent
playing
video
games.
This
follows
a
“major
drop”
in
2023
across
all
six
markets,
attributed
to
post-pandemic
changes
in
consumer
behaviour.
Elsewhere
in
the
report,
Niko
Partners
said
female
gamers
are
making
more
game-related
purchases,
with
30%
of
women
spending
on
games
compared
to
22%
of
men.
Digital
wallets
are
by
far
and
away
the
most
popular
payment
method
across
SEA-6,
as
more
than
75%
of
players
use
these
to
buy
games.
“Considering
that
gamer
spending
power
is
also
increasing
across
these
markers,
we
forecast
Southeast
Asia
to
be
the
second-fastest
growing
region
we
track
for
average
revenue
per
paying
user
(ARPU)
through
2028,”
said
Niko
Partners
CEO
Lisa
Hanson.
“To
succeed,
companies
must
not
treat
the
region
as
a
monolith
but
must
pay
attention
to
the
unique
characteristics
of
each
individual
market.”
Case
in
point,
the
report
notes
that
more
than
50%
of
gamers
in
Indonesia,
Thailand
and
Vietnam
prefer
to
play
games
translated
into
their
local
language.
This
is
less
pressing
in
the
other
three
markets,
due
to
“high
levels
of
English
proficiency.”
Image
credit:
Niko
Partners
