35 Percent of Senior Execs Play Casual Videogames at Work

Among white-collar workers surveyed, nearly a quarter (24 percent) said they play casual videogames “at work” - with fully 35 percent of CEOs, CFOs and other senior executives saying they play at work - according to a PopCap Games survey targeting white-collar workers, reports MarketingCharts.

With conservative estimates pegging the casual games market at over 200 million people, the representative sample suggests that as many as 80 million white-collar workers play casual games, PopCap said.

The following are among the key findings of the study:

All white-collar workers

Of the 2,842 white-collar workers surveyed, 98 percent said they played casual games at home and 24 percent said they played during work hours. Of those who said they played during work hours:

• 14 percent admitted they had played casual games during business meetings or conference calls, with two thirds (65 percent) of those saying they did so at least once a month.
• 61 percent said they play during lunch or other official break periods.
• 52 percent said they play “during my work day, when I need a short break.”
• 19 percent said they play “at the end of my work day, to unwind.”
• 11 percent said they play “at the beginning of my work day before I get started.”

Senior Executives

Among white-collar gamers who participated in the survey, 9 percent were identified as “senior executives” - CEOs, CFOs, presidents and other C-level executives - and they indicated a considerably higher frequency of play, including playing at work:

• 35 percent of senior executives said they play casual games at work, vs. 23 percent of other white-collar gamers.
• 70 percent said they play “during work, when I need a short break,” vs. 49 percent of other white-collar gamers.
• 61 percent said they play once a day or more frequently during each work day, vs. 51 percent of other white-collar gamers.
• 71 percent said their typical game-play session at work lasts 15 minutes or longer, vs. 62 percent of other white-collar gamers.

MarketingCharts has additional findings from the study.