Where do fighting games dominate, who prefers first-person shooters? Here’s how the world differs when it comes to gaming

On average, around 63 percent of all adults worldwide play video games. However, there are significant differences between the continents: In Asia, especially in Indonesia, Taiwan, India and China, the proportion is as high as 87 percent, while in Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium just 50 percent of adults play. The proportion between male and female gamers is relatively balanced almost everywhere. Most people play on smartphones (69 percent), followed by PCs and only then by the major consoles from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, with Sony still the market leader.

The most played games worldwide are Candy Crush (27 percent), FIFA (23 percent) and Call of Duty (21 percent). But this is where the differences from country to country begin: first-person shooters like Halo and Call of Duty remain the most successful genre in the U.S., while gamers in Japan hardly crave these games. This is partly for cultural reasons, but also for very practical ones: Japanese and Asians in general play more on the go while commuting and less at home. In Taiwan, League of Legends and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, as well as Candy Crush, are the three most popular games.[1]

India prefers virtual card games and in Germany, quiz and puzzle games are most loved. China is into role-playing games, which are often played in Internet cafés due to a lack of Internet connections, and in Latin America, fighting games are preferred. Racing games are also more typically represented in the West.

And then there’s esports: Taiwan and South Korea are famous for the immense popularity of esports games, professional gamers are celebrated like pop stars. Again, League of Legends dominates in Taiwan while the StarCraft scene still leads the way in South Korea.