Iran: Share of Villagers in Video Game Market Shows Upward Trajectory

EghtesadOnline: As a result of the rising access to internet services and electronic devices in Iran’s rural areas, more and more villagers have started playing video games.

News ID: ۷۴۸۵۸۵

30 September 2019

The Iranian government is enhancing internet connectivity and telecom services in rural areas to encourage villagers to stay in remote areas.

Currently, Iran’s internet penetration rate stands at 90.8% and 64 million broadband internet subscriptions have been registered.

Of the 28 million Iranian video gamers, 6.7 million or 24% live in villages, a new survey shows, according to Financial Tribune.

A nationwide survey conducted by the Iran Computer and Video Games Foundation, in collaboration with the Digital Games Research Center, marks the rising number of gamers across the country.

Results show that the number of Iranian villagers playing video games has reached 6.7 million.

Some 91% of these people play video games on mobile phones, while 22% of them use computers for playing and 12% have gaming consoles.

Data show that 34% of gamers living in rural areas are under the age of 12, 39% are between 12 and 19 years, 22% between 20 and 34, and 5% are above the age of 35. Some 1% of the gamers living in these areas are older than 60.

Most Iranian gamers are men, earlier surveys show. The latest data also indicate that 65% of villagers playing video games are men.

Video games are more popular among singles who constitute 78% of the rural population, 5% are married but do not have kids and 16% married with kids, while the remaining 1% is unaccounted.

The report also shows that only 16% of villagers playing video games spend money on the hobby. In the last Iranian year that ended in March 2019, these gamers spent close to 1 trillion rials ($9 million) on video games.

From every 100 Iranian villagers, 28 play video games.

On average, gamers living in villages play for 80 minutes per day, 45% of them play games every day and 40% play online games.

The most popular gaming genres in Iranian villages are platformer/runner, puzzle, racing/driving, arcade and sports.

The most popular games in these areas are FIFA, Counter Strike, GTA, PES, Clash of Clans, Quiz of Kings, Pou, Call of Duty, Clash Royale and Baghlava.

Nationwide Overview

There are 28 million gamers in Iran, annually generating 9.2 trillion rials ($80 million) in revenues for the gaming market.

The number of Iranian gamers has seen a 21% jump, reaching 28 million by March 2018 compared to the earlier data from March 2016 when the number stood at 23 million.

Applying a gender perspective to the data reveals that out of the 28 million gamers, 65% are men and 35% are women. Almost half of the population (47%) plays video games every single day of the week.

In the country of 83 million people, the data means that out of every 100 Iranians, 35 are considered gamers. Out of every 100 women, 24 play games on a regular basis.

Out of every 100 men, 45 are gamers. On average, each Iranian household has one player who spends 90 minutes per day playing games.

On average, each Iranian plays games for 31 minutes daily.

Financial Overview

In the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2019), games industry in Iran generated 9.2 trillion rials ($80 million), with gaming hardware playing a leading role.

Iranians spent $125 million on gaming devices and $94 million on the games.

Mobile games had the largest share of the revenue with $54.64 million, followed by console games $22.97 million and computer games $16.45 million.

Earnings from games developed locally reached $13.26 million. Local games collected 6% of the total gaming market revenue. The figure stood at 5% in March 2016, indicating that the local gaming business is on an upward trend in generating revenue.

Out of the $94 million software market revenue, the local games market share stood at 14%. By the end of March 2015, domestic games had an 11% share.

Only 18% of the players buy games, with the age of buyers averaging at 18. About 85% of the purchasers were male and the rest women.