Time Spent on Digital Games Increased Substantially amid COVID-19

Contestants play the game League of Legends on computers at the Global Game Challenge in Seoul on Dec. 20, 2018. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 4 out of 10 South Koreans who enjoy digital games have increased their time spent playing games substantially since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, a survey showed Friday.

In a recent survey conducted on 3,084 people aged from 10 to 65 by the state-run Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), 70.5 percent responded that they have played digital games in one form or another since June 2019.

The figure represents a 4.8 percentage-point increase from a similar survey conducted a year ago.

Gaming on mobile devices was the most popular means of gaming, accounting for 91.1 percent, followed by PC and video game consoles, with 59.1 percent and 20.8 percent, respectively.

In terms of platform, 45.6 percent of gamers on PC hardware responded that they have shown a “substantial increase” in their play time since January, when the COVID-19 pandemic began to worsen.

Among gamers on mobile platforms and video game consoles, 47.1 percent and 41.4 percent, respectively, said they have seen substantial increases in game play time since January.

According to a separate industry analysis report from software developer Unity Technologies in June, daily active users of PC and console games spiked 46 percent on-year during the January-May period.

The corresponding number for mobile gaming increased 17 percent.

Before the COVID-19 outbreak hit, there was already a 13 percent on-year increase in mobile app downloads, but the corresponding number skyrocketed as countries entered lockdowns in early March, according to the report.

(Yonhap)