Survey says, 'One third of social gamers play several times daily'

A recent survey of two thousand social gamers and consumers conducted by UK-based Econsultancy found the usual statistics such as "one fifth of consumers have played a social game" to gender breakdowns (surprise: slightly more women play than men). However, the report, titled "Social Gaming Smart Pack," found one startling number: 30 percent of social gamers claim to play several times daily. Now, we don't know exactly how many times the word "several" means, but it sure does imply more than, say, a couple.

This means that one third of social gamers log in... let's say more than twice daily. If this statistic is truly representative of the global player base, then perhaps the rampant addiction claims and stories hold more merit than we thought. Below that are the 26 percent that admit to playing social games several times weekly, which is far more manageable for most.

Econsultancy found that one fifth of social gamers have paid to play one of these games, which is even more surprising. The typical comments you find in messages boards and even right here on the Games.com Blog suggest that this number would be far lower. Perhaps the paying players aren't too keen on bringing that up in conversation? Even if these numbers aren't on the nose, one thing is certain: social games are far from seeing their twilight years.