Our video gaming habits

13. 05. 2022.

It is important to have authentic information about our video gaming habits these days, as stereotypes determine our thinking about this activity. eNET has been conducting the country’s largest, comprehensive video game survey * since 2016, examining our video gaming habits, children’s attitudes toward video games, and market values. In addition, e-sports, which are emerging as comets **, are being scrutinized by our researchers, along with all their details.

Before the release of our latest research in 2022, let’s look back at the 2021 results, which are special because these were the first data on video gaming since the outbreak of the pandemic. The research is thus well comparable to its predecessor in 2020, providing a basis for comparing our habits before and during the quarantine period.

56% of the Hungarian adult population – up to the age of 65 – play video games, everything from the most elaborate, expensive games to offline, mobile, free solitaire games. The result of the survey was not surprising, with the highest proportions of young people and men playing, but the number of female and older players is not negligible either, as half of them also claim to be players. The most popular games are those that do not require special concentration and can be played for a few minutes of “idle time”, such as word search or candy crush.

We are also spending more on it: the proportion of people who have bought a video game has risen from 35% to 57%. It is also meaningful that the annual turnover generated by video games exceeded HUF 50 billion in 2020, and by 2021 the market reached HUF 65 billion. This amount does not include the fact that when we buy a laptop, PC, smartphone, tablet, it is also important to be suitable for gaming.

Covid has also changed video gaming habits

Before and during the epidemic, one fifth of players have changed their video gaming habits since the outbreak, and most have increased their time spent with it. The average weekly playing time increased by two and a half hours, which is significant. Our research from 2022 will also provide an answer to the fact that this growth has stagnated, continued, or declined as our recreational opportunities, albeit limited, have reopened. As players spend more time playing and the amount spent on it has also increased, the market is clearly booming although the number of players has not risen.

Parents and rules

Parents are perhaps most interested in their children’s video playing habits. Most parents limit how much, when and what their child can play, and also regulate money spending within the game. Children’s time spent playing usually depends on the time of day: of course, they play more in the summer, less during school hours, and mostly on the weekends.

Can we inaugurate an e-sports Olympic champion in Paris?

One of the most popular new areas related to video games is e-sports. Such activities, especially among young men, is starting to grow more and more seriously, with e-sports-related spending accounting for 50 billion of the estimated 65 billion total video game market, according to our 2021 research. The area divides many, most notably whether it can be considered as a sport at all. The majority of hardcore gamers say yes, but two-thirds of them in the society have strong prejudices about e-sports. Among the participants of last year’s research, only 29 percent of hardcore gamers believe that e-sports have a place in the Olympics, but a significant number of competitors would like to join a sports club’s e-sports division. It does not seem so impossible for e-sports to be a part of the Olympics, since the 2024 Paris Games Committee is already discussing the inclusion of e-sports in the program.

* eNET’s research is representative of the population aged 18 to 65 by gender, age, and region

** eNET e-sports research was conducted in 2021 with 1,225 gamers of at least sixteen years of age

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