There was a time when gaming was more the domain of boys and twenty-five-year-old guys going on eleven, but times have changed. In more recent years, the gaming world has seen women get much more into gaming, as have the older generations.

According to stats published on the marketing company Mediakix’s website, 45% of gamers in the US are women. Meanwhile, a 2020 survey by the Entertainment Software Association found that 63% of women and 56% of men between the ages of 55 and 64 play games on a smart phone, and 68% and 65% respectively aged 65 or over play games on a PC.

We decided to take a look at some stunning facts of which the games industry has made fans and gaming companies alike sit up and take notice.

1.    Mobiles are the top gaming device

Given the technologically advanced times we live in, this might not actually come as much of a surprise, but it’s an important observation all the same. Mobiles are the number one gaming device for gaming, with women being more likely to use a smart phone or a tablet for gaming than men, who seem to prefer consoles or computers.

Today’s passions for mobile technology are something which online casinos have cottoned onto. This online casino and others have made their services as accessible as possible so that fans can play blackjack, baccarat, and other casino games easily on their mobile phones. They realize people aren’t as keen to play from behind a desktop computer as they used to be, and some of the statistics around gaming reflect this.

2.    More than 38% of gamers would like to become professionals

If you could go pro as a gamer, would you?

According to research by content and tech firm Limelight, just over 38% of the gamers would pack in their day job if they could make a living from gaming. Gamers in India would especially like to hand in their notice and game their way to a living, whereas gamers in Japan were the happiest to stick to their current day job.

This theoretical pursuit of gaming as a career is becoming more popular partly because prizes for gaming are as much as salaries for professional sports these days, making gaming an appetizing way to earn your daily bred if you’re good enough. Men were more willing than women to turn pro.

Of course, if you love gaming, you don’t necessarily have to turn into a professional gamer to work in the industry. The online casino industry offers lots of different opportunities for people to earn a living in an industry they enjoy. Working as a games developer, casino dealer, copywriter, account manager, analyst or online marketer are all potential career options within the industry. Some people in the industry have even turned their passion for card games such as poker into a business.

3.    One third of gamers play games at work

Where do you play games? From the comfort of your home? At a friend or family member’s place?

Or at work, as do 34% of gamers.

The global number of people playing games while they were at work increased by 16% in 2020 from 2019.

Again, India revealed themselves to be the keenest gamers and were happy to risk the potential wrath of their employers and jump onto a game while they were at work (57%), whereas the hardworking Italians would have received approving nods from them. Only 21% played games while they were at work.

Again, this illustrates the tech smarts of games developers and gaming operators, who have managed to tailor their games to browsers and to mobile devices. Classics such as Pac Man and Prince of Persia both have browser versions, offering anyone who is at a desktop computer the opportunity to squeeze in some sneaky gaming from across the other side of the office.

4.    The majority of gamers have played games for more than four consecutive hours

Games can be tremendously addictive, to say the least, and gamers told Limelight in the research they spent an average of 4 hours 36 minutes consecutively playing games in 2020. That’s 7% more than in 2019.

The Japanese may not be less willing to pursue gaming careers, but they make up for it in front of the gaming screens themselves. They had the longest average duration at 5.33, with the Americans not far behind at 5.14, whereas the South Koreans spent way under the average at 3.36. The Italians also spent relatively less consecutive time gaming, with an average of 3.89.

That’s somewhat understandable when you have games out there such as Fortnite, which the makers tweak regularly to keep the fans entertained; Minecraft, which has allowed players to really unlock their creativity; and Players Unknown Battlegrounds, which is a little clunky at first but, as you get better, starts to become more and more enjoyable. The hours fly by when you’re playing these games.

The gaming industry is getting bigger and bigger, and we can expect to see all kinds of mind-blowing stats and innovations. In 2020, the global casino and online gambling market grew to a staggering 227 billion USD.

Meanwhile, global sales of games were expected to increase by 20%, reaching 180 billion USD, and become bigger than the film industry and the sports industry. Just how much bigger it will get is anyone’s guess, but it sure will be interesting watching it grow.