70% gamers in India prefer PC gaming over mobile phone, finds HP India study

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Smartphone makers better watch out. According to a new study conducted by PC maker HP, 70 percent of Indian gamers prefer gaming on a personal computer rather than a mobile phone.

The large percentage skew is due to three main factors. A PC offers more versatility and customisation than any gaming platform, it provides a better experience with dedicated hardware designed to squeeze performance out of the most demanding titles and allows for a variety of external peripherals.

“The strong preference for PC gaming represents a massive business opportunity for us. We remain focused to engineer the best experiences based on user insights to enable a holistic and advanced gaming ecosystem in India," said Vickram Bedi, Senior Director, Personal Systems, HP India.

The study found that 29 percent of the female gamers in India see gaming as a career option but 39 percent still don't consider it as a viable alternative. Five percent aren't sure of their opinion is and 27 percent say it is a good part-time gig.

Overall, 56 percent do see it as being a good alternative to a natural career path.

“As the gaming industry in India evolves, it is promising to see gaming being considered as a career option," said Bedi.

Two percent of the gaming professionals who responded didn't have formal training. As many as 32 percent of them learnt by following a popular game streamer or a celebrity.

Among other respondents, 92 percent consider gaming a form of entertainment and relaxation, 58 percent believe it improves mental agility and 52 percent use it to socialise.

As for the career options, 53 percent say gaming is their most preferred, while 20 percent want some sort of influencer role in the industry. Eighteen percent voted for careers in gaming software development and 8 percent believe streaming is the way to go. Two percent voted animation as their preferred choice.

The study was conducted with 2,010 respondents across 14 tier-1 and 2 cities in India. While 75 percent of the respondents were male, 25 percent were female in the age group of 18 to 40.