What kind of relationships do UK children have with online games, Ofcom analysts said in their report.
75% of children aged five to 15 years have played online games at least once. Last year there were two-thirds of them, writes Gamesindustry.biz .
Percentage of children playing
Children’s interest in online games grows as they get older.
- Among children aged three to four, 37% are interested in online games.
- Among teenagers from 12 to 15 years old, 87% are interested.
Time in the game
The time that children spend on online games every week has increased by 1.5 hours over the year.
Teenagers aged 12 to 15 play more often. They spend 13 hours and 48 minutes a week playing online games.
- Girls at this age play for 9 hours and 18 minutes a week.
- Boys play more — for 16 hours and 42 minutes.
At the same time, children from three to four years old play an average of 6 hours and 12 minutes a week.
Using the chat
38% of children aged eight to 11 years and 58% of teenagers aged 12-15 years use chat to communicate with other players. Children of each age group are twice as likely to communicate with those they know in real life.
At the same time, boys often use chat to communicate with those they know only in the game. In the age group of 12-15 years of such boys – 30%. Girls – 16%.
Parents’ attitude
Ofcom also analyzed the attitude of parents to online games that their children choose.
- 34% of parents are concerned about the content of titles downloaded by their children from five to 15 years old.
- 39% of parents negatively encounter games where children are forced to buy access to new levels, updates or DLC for real.
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