New Study Reveals Int'l Differences in Online Gaming Habits

The data, collected via panel sessions, provides a glimpse at how various countries and cultures respond to online gaming. According the study, 28% of all Internet users (23.8 million unique visitors) in the US went to a games site during the month of December, and more than 4.8 million of them actually played games over the Internet. In the UK, the percentage was lower: about 20% of UK users (2.4 million unique visitors) went to games sites, and only 194,000 played games. Just under a fifth of users in Spain visited a games site, but they played online longer than any other European country: they averaged 27 minutes. Danish and UK users trailed behind them at 23 minutes, while French and German users averaged just 14 minutes. US users played online the longest, averaging 37.9 minutes. Perhaps not surprisingly, the report said that across all European markets, males dominate online gaming: 97.6% in the UK, 90.7% in Spain, 84.9% in France, and 83.4% in Denmark. This contrasts sharply with the US -- the report stated that 46% of US online game players are women.

Most visited games sites in the US, December 2000:

Domain               Unique visitors  Reach   (Duration (min) per User
uproar.com           4,502,580          5.3%    20.3
ea.com               3,926,820          4.6%     9.6
sandbox.com          3,784,160          4.5%    17.0
commissioner.com     1,959,940          2.3%   129.7
boxerjam.com         1,619,750          1.9%    61.7

Most visited games sites in the UK, December 2000

Domain          Unique visitors      Reach     Duration (min) per User
gamesdomain.com   234,230           2.0%         6.8
gameplay.com      224,660           1.9%         7.3
ea.com            192,900           1.7%        14.2
simplygames.com   170,880           1.5%         2.7
uproar.com        169,290           1.5%         1.6

Most visited games sites in Germany, December 2000

Domain         Unique visitors     Reach (%)   Duration (min) per User
cheatz.de          224,510          1.8%         5.4
ea.com             190,350          1.5%        31.0
cheats.de          178,220          1.4%         9.5
megagames.com      173,800          1.4%         2.0
spieletips.de      170,150          1.4%         5.4

Most visited games sites in France, December 2000

Domain           Unique visitors   Reach (%)   Duration (min) per User
jeuxvideo.com      432,250          6.3%        11.6
goa.com            281,910          4.1%        18.8
megagames.com       95,620          1.4%         3.2
pokemon.tm.fr       94,150          1.4%        10.6
gamespot.fr         91,700          1.3%         8.2

Most visited games sites in Spain, December 2000

Domain          Unique visitors    Reach (%)   Duration (min) per User
meristation.com    111,570          3.8%        11.0
oniric.com          81,710          2.8%         9.5
megagames.com       71,310          2.5%         5.1
uproar.com          54,940          1.9%        46.3
ea.com              46,520          1.6%         4.7

Most visited games sites in Denmark, December 2000

Domain          Unique visitors    Reach (%)   Duration (min) per User
vindenhund.dk       67,320          3.0%        31.2
popit.dk            44,790          2.0%        10.6
komogvind.dk        36,730          1.6%        48.9
klikogvind.dk       36,280          1.6%         0.8
borsspillet.dk      33,510          1.5%        14.8