The young South African gaming market

In February 2023, TrendER/infoQuest, a South African online research company, conducted a survey among young South Africans to assess their digital gaming habits and behaviours.

Three hundred participants between the ages of 18 and 35 were interviewed via an online survey. Those that never gamed were excluded.

Frequency of gaming and device used

45% of respondents game for 3 hours or more per day and males are more frequent gamers than females – 51% vs 39%.

Cellphones are the most popular device used for playing games, followed by laptops. On average, two devices were used to game. Significantly more females used cellphones to game than males while laptops were used more by the younger age cohort, ie 18–24 years, than the older 25–35.

 Most popular games

Candy Crush is by far the most popular game amongst those that use their mobile phones most often to game and it is in second place for those that mostly use another device to game. Candy Crush is played by considerably more females than males, while Grand Theft Auto V is skewed towards male gamers. There were no significant differences in the games played by different age groups within the 18–35 category. On average, three games were played regularly per gamer.

When/where games are played

As expected, almost half of gamers play at home, with almost one in three playing while a passenger in a car or taxi. Watching TV and standing in queues are other occasions when young South Africans take the opportunity for gaming.

Those that use their mobile phones mostly to game are more likely to play while a passenger in a car/taxi and/or when waiting in queues.

Even though at low levels, it is concerning that some gamers engage in this activity while driving.

Time of day for gaming

The most popular times for gaming are in the evenings from 5.00 pm to 12.00 pm midnight (53%). This was the case for both males and females and across the age spectrum.

Spend on gaming per month

Expenditure on gaming per month is relatively low, with 41% claiming that they spend less than R100 a month. A further 28% spend between R100 and R300 per month. Only 5% are on the high end of expenditure of more than R1 000 monthly. Male gamers are likely to spend more on gaming per month than females, as are those aged 25 to 35 years, rather than those aged 18 to 24 years. This may well be due to employment status.

Preference for activities

Gamers were asked which of two activities they would rather do. Four options were presented to them.

When it comes to a choice between gaming or socialising with friends and family, gamers generally have a preference for the more social activities. However, when it comes to spending time outdoors and going to the gym/exercising, more respondents would prefer to game than engage in these activities.

Incidence of earning/winning money on games

Half of gamers claim to have earned or won money through their gaming activities, with one in five earning/winning on a regular basis.

Watching Esports

About 80% of games watch esports, where gamers compete against each other.

Gaming is a very popular pastime of young South Africans and its popularity has been increasing over the last few years.

Says Mogorosi Mashilo, managing director of TrendER/infoQuest: “Marketers and advertisers need to interrogate this market in order to establish how they may be able to benefit from the market dynamics. We have established this baseline of insights into the gaming market, which we will update periodically to build a trended view.”