65 Percent Of Filipinos Aged 55 And Above Are Gamers, Highest Rate In Pollster’s Asean Survey

Two-thirds of Filipinos over the age of 55 play mobile or video games, the highest rate among six Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ member-states, according to British internet-based market research firm YouGov.

In its Gaming and Esports: The Next Generation white paper, YouGov said 65 percent of respondents in Philippines who are 55 years old or older answered “yes” to the question: “Do you play video games or mobile games on any device?”

Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore follow closely with respective figures of 59 percent, 57 percent and 56 percent. Malaysia and Vietnam were far behind with 34 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

These figures bolstered the finding of YouGov that “gamers, streaming viewers and esports fans are diverse groups with diverse interests.”

“Gamers are not a homogenous bloc and marketers cannot assume they will automatically be interested in – or even familiar with – esports or online streaming,” the white paper read.

“Just as Bejeweled players engage in a different way to the Tekken or Elder Scrolls player, German, Danish, Iraqi and American gamers should be treated as separate audiences – as should Light, Moderate, Heavy, and Heavy+ gamers, or mobile players versus those who opt for consoles or PCs (personal computers),” it added.

In releasing these figures, YouGov said 2020 “was always set to be an important year in gaming” because of the release of new consoles (Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X) and titles (The Last of Us Part II, Marvel’s Avengers, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Valorant).

“When looking at which nation has either the highest ownership or access to a console, Indonesia came up on top, with over half (55 percent) being able to get their hands on one. Indonesia is closely followed by Thailand and Vietnam (both 52 percent), Philippines (50 percent), and Singapore (46 percent). Malaysians are the least likely to own or have access to a console (42 percent),” YouGov said.

“Though it remains to be seen whether the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X will be the more popular console this year, it is clear in ASEAN the PlayStation 4 is currently the console of choice. In five ASEAN nations, the PlayStation 4 is the console that most people own or have access to. These nations are the Philippines (11 percent), Thailand (12 percent), Vietnam (12 percent), Malaysia (15 percent) and Singapore (15 percent). Singapore is the only nation where ownership / access to a PlayStation 4 ties with ownership / access to a Nintendo Switch (both 15 percent). Indonesia is the only exception, where the PlayStation 3 is the most popular in the nation (19 percent),” it added.

Based on the white paper, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic “changed the game” for gaming, as people spend more time at home.

“Gaming has taken on fresh significance as both a way to spend extra leisure time and an alternative way to socialize, virtually,” the white paper read.

Across demographics, Thailand recorded 82 percent – the highest proportion of respondents who said they were gamers. The Philippines was not far behind with 80 percent – which means four out of five Filipinos play mobile or video games.

Indonesia and Singapore have slightly smaller figures of 77 percent and 76 percent, respectively. Vietnam and Malaysia again bring up the rear among the ASEAN countries with respective 70 percent and 60 percent.

The non-ASEAN country with the highest overall percentage of gamers was Taiwan with 77 percent.

Other non-ASEAN countries with large rates were Australia (72 percent), United States, India and Hong Kong (71 percent), Egypt (68 percent), United Kingdom, Spain and China (67 percent), and the United Arab Emirates (65 percent). Among the countries surveyed by YouGov, Denmark and Norway were the only countries were non-gamers outnumber gamers (both 45 percent).

YouGov said the proportion of gamers were equally split among genders in all the ASEAN countries, except for Singapore, where gamers were more likely to be male.

The white paper offers a foundational understanding of gamers, YouGov noted. It released the white paper in October after field work was conducted in September.

The results were based on 8,394 people surveyed on YouGov Omnibus across six ASEAN nations. The breakdown of sample size in each nation are as follows: Singapore (1,053), Philippines (1,057), Thailand (2,079), Vietnam (1,099), Malaysia (1,075) and Indonesia (2,031). Data is nationally representative of the population in Singapore, and representative of the online population in Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.