Nearly one in five Russians plays video games, according to a new state-funded survey.
Research says that Russia has the world’s sixth-largest video game market, with 66.1 million gamers counted in 2018. Previous polling has said that most Russians prefer to spend their free time watching movies and television.
Nineteen percent of Russian respondents said they regularly play video games, the state-funded VTsIOM pollster said Monday.
One-third of respondents said they have played video games in the past but don’t anymore, while 48% said they have never played video games.
When asked about their favorite titles, 11% named the Belarussian-made battle simulator World of Tanks, followed by 7% who preferred the classic card game Solitaire and 4% who pointed to the Russian-made mobile game Pirate Treasures.
While Russians in the 18-24 and 25-34 age groups were most likely to play video games overall, Russians in the 45-59 and over-60 age groups were the most likely to play video games every day, VTsIOM said.
Almost four in five respondents (79%) said they wouldn’t spend money on paid versions of games, subscriptions or video game equipment. Those who didn’t mind spending money on games said they were willing to pay an average of 959 rubles ($14.30) a month.
VTsIOM conducted the survey among 1,600 Russian respondents on Aug. 15.
