Children account for 31% of videogamers living in Iran. The fact flies in the face of public belief that playing videogames is a pastime of youngsters.
Iran’s Digital Games Research Center has released results of a survey that indicates there are 8.7 million videogamers under the age of 12 in the country.
According to the report published on DIREC.ir, a regular gamer is defined as someone who plays videogames at least for an hour every week. The report indicates that 47% of the kids play videogames every day.
The survey’s findings show 13% of the kids use gaming consoles for playing videogames, 91% mobile phones and 22%% computers. Most gamers use more than one platform for playing.
From every 100 Iranian children, 69 play videogames. Of this figure, 64% are boys and the average age of Iranian kids playing videogames is nine.
On average, Iranian videogamers under the age of 12 spend 83 minutes playing videogames, with 33% playing online.
According to the report, most kids play freemium games and only 14% buy videogames. Freemium is a pricing strategy by which a product or service is provided for free, but money is charged for additional features, services, or virtual and physical goods, which are commonly categorized as in-app purchases.
The five most popular genres of videogames in the age group are platformer/runner, arcade, driving, puzzle and strategy.
There are 28 million gamers in Iran, annually generating a revenue of 9.2 trillion rials ($64.7 million) for the gaming market
The most popular games among Iranian kids are GTA, Clash of Clans, Counter Strike, Pou, PES, Angry Birds, FIFA, Speaking Tom, Subway Surfers and Baghlava.
Most kids start playing videogames at the age of six while some children start playing videogames as soon as they turn three. About 26% of the kids playing videogames are under six years and 74% are between seven and 12.
The survey showed that kids living in major urban areas start playing videogames earlier compared to their peers in rural areas, because they have greater access to smartphones, tablets and computers. Children in urban areas also spend more time on digital games.
In urban areas, boys on average play videogames for 120 minutes a day while girls spend 90 minutes. The nationwide results are significantly lower, with boys playing for 87 minutes and girls 67 minutes.
Nationwide Overview
There are 28 million gamers in Iran, annually generating a revenue of 9.2 trillion rials ($64.7 million) for the gaming market.
According to DIREC, the number of Iranian gamers has seen a 21% jump, reaching 28 million by March 2018 compared to earlier data from March 2016 when the number stood at 23 million.
Applying a gender perspective to the data reveals that out of the 28 million gamers, 65% are men and 35% are women. Almost half of the population (47%) play games every single day of the week.
In the country of 81 million people, the data show that out of every 100 Iranians, 35 are considered gamers. Out of every 100 women, 24 play games on a regular basis.
Out of every 100 men, 45 are gamers. On average, each Iranian household has one player in the family who spends 90 minutes per day playing games.
On average, each Iranian dedicates 31 minutes a day to play videogames.
Popular Games
The mobile strategy videogame Clash of Clans is ranked as the most popular game among Iranians, followed by the football game Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) and the action-adventure series Grand Auto Theft.
Ranked fourth in the list is the first-person shooter videogame Counter Strike. The fifth place belongs to another sports videogame FIFA, the main rival of PES.
The first local game in the list is ranked sixth, the popular word game Baghlava developed by Brain Ladder Game Studio.
Next on the list are the mobile tower rush videogame Clash Royale, the world-renowned shooter game Call of Duty and virtual pet game Pou.
The 10th most widely-played game in Iran is also local, the trivia quiz game Quiz of Kings that has turned into a sensation among Iranian youth.
The five most popular game genres are respectively puzzle, platformer/runner, racing/driving, sports and lastly arcade.
Platforms and Access
Nearly 88% of the gamers use mobile handsets to venture into the gaming world. The second device most widely used by players is computers with 25% and 18% use gaming consoles such as Play Station or Xbox.
Only 2% of those surveyed have reported using handheld consoles.
Iranians chiefly use devices made by Samsung for gaming purposes, followed by Sony, Huawei, Lenovo and lastly Microsoft.
The report further states that according to statistics released by the Internet World Stats, the country's internet penetration rate stands at 70%. Roughly 84% of the gamers have internet access and 48% play games online.
Almost 59% of the players access the internet via mobile services followed by broadband landline services (21%), WiMAX (5%) and dial-up (1%).
