Games downloads onto personal computer are becoming more and more popular. This year Germans will presumably spend 18 million Euros on such downloads which is 20% more than in 2006. Currently one fifth of computer game players above the age of 14 download games onto their PC. In most cases, however, these downloads are free of charge, as was reported by the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM).
Such free-of-charge downloads are made use of by 20.6% of computer game players, whereas payable downloads are used by just 4.4%. However, there is a big gender difference. Women (6.4%) much more often than men (3.1%) opt for payable downloads.
“The increasing turnover reflects the strong interest of Germans in computer games. About 31% of people aged above 14, that is about 20 million Germans, play such games on their PC”, says Mr Manfred Gerdes who is member of the BITKOM board of managing directors.
The above figures were published on the occasion of the Games Convention which is going to take place in Leipzig from August 23rd to 26th. 