- Pexels
Gamers are a dedicated bunch, and they’ll do anything to advance in the virtual world. But Singaporean gamers are taking it up a notch, with a sizeable number forgoing sleep and skipping meals just to keep playing.
A study has found that Singaporeans are the most frequent gamers in Asia, and the third most frequent in the world, spending a total of 7.44 hours each week playing video games.
The country which spends the most time gaming each week is Germany, at 7.98 hours, followed by the US at 7.61 hours.
- Limelight Networks
But Singaporeans topped the global list for time spent playing video games consecutively, at an average of 1.56 hours, according to edge cloud services provider Limelight Networks’ latest State of Online Gaming study.
The study – based on responses from 4,500 consumers from France,
Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the UK, and the US – also found that some Singaporean gamers forgo everyday activities such as sleeping and eating just to continue playing video games.
According to the study, 51 per cent of Singaporean respondents have skipped out on sleep, while over 38.2 per cent have missed a meal. 31.4 per cent of them have even missed a shower.
The study also found that some even prioritise games over their social and professional lives, with 37.2 per cent indicating that they have skipped out on spending time with a friend or going on a date, while 12.2 per cent said that they have skipped work.
Additionally, many Singaporeans are thinking of switching to gaming as a career – if it’s self-sustainable enough, that is.
The report said: “With the rise of e-sports in Southeast Asia, gamers in Singapore are considering video gaming as a possible professional career. 38 per cent of gamers would quit their jobs and become professional gamers if they could support themselves by doing so.”
Slow downloads are the most frustrating
With Singaporeans investing so much time in playing video games, some concerns have arisen regarding online gaming platforms.
Respondents said that performance and security are the most critical aspects of playing video games, with 51 per cent of them saying that they would stop using a gaming platform completely if it suffers a breach.
The next most important aspects, in order, are the option to play offline, an interesting storyline and simple gameplay.
The study also found that the process of downloading games particularly strikes a nerve.
A whopping 92 per cent of gamers find the downloading process frustrating, and the main cause of their frustration is that it’s too slow (32.7 per cent). Other common issues include interrupted downloads (31 per cent) and downloads that do not work (27.9 per cent).
When they don’t play, they watch others play
When Singaporean gamers aren’t playing video games, they’re watching streamers and YouTubers play.
The study found that over 66 per cent of gamers watch others play online every week – and almost 10 percent of them watch for more than seven hours.
According to the report, Singaporeans spend more time watching gaming content online each week than they do watching sports programmes on TV and online. Respondents said that they spent 2.46 hours watching gamers game online, compared to only watching sports on TV (2.12 hours) and online (2.13 hours).
Limelight Networks attributed the interest in observing other gamers game to the rise in popularity of video game streaming sites such as Twitch and YouTube Gaming.
Gaming on-the-go
The study also found that Singaporean gamers prefer mobile gaming to other forms of gaming.
It said that gamers across the globe, including Singapore, are increasingly playing on-the-go, and as a result, mobile phones continue to be the most commonly used device for gaming.
This also means that casual single-player games are played more frequently played than any other type of video game.
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