Mobile social gaming's awareness high in Japan but few users agree to pay

A recent user survey of more than three thousand respondents in Japan by CA Mobile and Spire revealed interesting trends about the uptake of mobile social gaming on such sites as mixi, mobage town and gree. Here are some highlights:

• Awareness of mobile social gaming is very high with close to 70% of respondents indicating they have played some kind of game
• Spread of word is the most effective way to get new players onboard with more than 60% of those who played a social game citing friend's invite as a reason to join
• The most popular time for playing social games is just before going to bed (or actually playing when already in bed)
• Almost 60% of respondents spend no more than 20 minutes per access
• Majority of users plays free games, with only 4.2% of core users expressing willigness to pay

Source: Spire