Hamburg, Germany -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/14/2012 -- Social games, traditional online games and casual websites are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. This is also true for the European market. Important markets in this sector are Great Britain and Germany as well as Russia. Still, revenue and user figures also grew considerably in smaller markets.

Social games are especially popular in the most important European markets.

In Great Britain, more than 90 percent of all social gamers played games on a desktop PC or laptop in September 2011, while less than one third used smartphones. In September 2011, the most popular social online game in Great Britain was FarmVille, followed by Bejeweled Blitz and Mafia Wars. Almost one fifth of all time invested into playing games in Great Britain in 2011 was spent on social networks, followed by casual games; more time was only invested into console games. In Germany, spending on online/browser games increased in 2011 compared to 2010, accounting for more than 20 percent of all revenue generated from gaming. Unlike in Japan and the USA, in Germany the entire gaming market grew in 2012, only as a result of increased revenue from online and browser games. The size of the German online and mobile gaming market is expected to continue to grow and almost double between 2010 and 2015. The "Europe Online Gaming Report 2012" by yStats.com also shows that in 2011, French gamers spent a double digit percentage figure of their entire gaming time in social networks. Furthermore, it is estimated that almost three quarters of all Spanish gamers used social networks for gaming activities. In Russia, the volume of the online gaming market is expected to increase by 20 to 30 percent in 2012 compared to 2011. Almost 80 percent of the total online gaming market value is generated with browser games.

Casual websites also on the upswing in other European markets

According to forecasts, in Belgium casual websites were the most popular gaming platforms in 2011. The "Europe Online Gaming Report 2012" by yStats.com also shows that the value of the Polish gaming market has increased by a double-digit percentage in 2011 compared to 2010. Finally, Turkey was the fourth largest social gaming market worldwide in the second quarter of 2011.

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