Women play video games as much as men in Romania, ample study on gaming reveals

7.8 million Romanians play video games on smartphones, PCs, consoles or tablets, revealed the most complex public study ever conducted on video game users in Romania, study commissioned by RGDA (Video Game Developers Association from Romania).

The study details which are the most popular platforms Romanians play on, how much money they invest in video games, where they buy their games, where and why they play.

The data show that out of the almost 8 million Romanians between the ages of 15 and 64, women play in equal numbers with men. Among avid gamers (who typically play at least a few times a week), the average age is 27 for men and 32 for women.

However, there are significant gender differences, with men preferring to use their PC, laptop or consoles, while women prefer to use their mobile phone to play games.

The most popular platforms on which Romanians play are the mobile phone (70%), PC/laptop (69%), followed by consoles (40%), online in the internet browser (18%), tablets (11%) and social media (9%).In terms of purchasing video games, the number of respondents who say they pay for video games is significant. Thus, 62% of regular users of video games declared that they pay monthly on at least one of the devices used to play.

9% of console gamers pay between 250 lei and 500 lei monthly to purchase games and 5% of PC gamers pay similar amounts. At the opposite pole, 22% of mobile players pay amounts below 50 lei per month to play, while 72% of mobile players do not spend money on this platform.Game prices that are too high (48%), the possibility of getting them for free (27%), but also the absence of desired games from the digital store (22%) are among the main reasons why players do not purchase them.

Regarding the places where Romanians shop for gaming, 42% of users buy new games from the store, 83% download them directly from the developers’ website, and 66% prefer to purchase them from digital stores such as Steam or Epic Store. The study also revealed a downward trend in purchases from retail stores and an increase in digital purchases as well as on the second-hand market. 50% of gamers say they get their games from torrent sites, down from 55% in 2020.When watching gaming content for information or entertainment, 70% of gamers said they usually do it on streaming platforms. YouTube is the favorite of 75% of gamers, followed by Twitch and Facebook.

Among the brands spontaneously mentioned to be the most active in gaming, there are Razer (11%), ASUS ROG (9%), Sony Playstation (8%), Ubisoft (7%), EA Sports (6%), Logitech (6 %), Nvidia (4%), Microsoft (3%), PlayStation (2%) Nintendo (2%) and Riot Games (2%).

The main events that players participate in are East European Comic Con and Bucharest Gaming Week.

The study also reveals Romanians’ gaming motivations and preferences. Among the motivations brought by the game, the most widespread is relaxation after a hard day (62%), the hobby character of games (52%), alleviating boredom (35%), but also to socialize/spend time with friends (26%) ).

Among the preferred game types, there are mainly Action/Adventure Games (60%), Shooter Games (47%), Role-Playing Games (38%), Puzzle/Match-3 (28%), Strategy ( 28%), and Arcade (26%), Survival/Horror (26%).

While men significantly prefer adventure games (69% vs. 50% women), shooters (67% vs. 25% women), Role-Playing Games (44% vs. 31% women), the study shows that women prefer Puzzle games (50% compared to only 7% men), and Arcade (33% compared to 20% men).

“The video game market is a global one, today developers launch their products in digital stores accessible from anywhere in the world. But it is important for us to understand who are the users of games in Romania and it is important for the general public to realize that video games are an entertainment medium that offers a wide variety of products and platforms that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, in equally women and men,” said Cătălin Butnariu, President of RGDA.

The study was carried out by the research firm iZi Data at the behest of the RGDA and is a research composed of an incidence study (1083 CAWI questionnaires, nationally representative, men and women aged 15 to 64, internet users) and a targeted study (1047 CAWI questionnaires, men and women, aged 15-64 playing on at least one of the platforms PC/laptop, console, mobile/tablet).