I get asked this question a lot, so here are the facts.
We’ve been measuring this since starting Appington, and have results validated by hundreds of thousands of users worldwide. We get data from various different game types (casual, puzzle, casino, arcade etc) and from iOS and Android. The results are consistent across game types and platforms. Here’s the rough breakdown:
- 73% of users worldwide play games with the volume at 10% or higher (on a linear scale of their volume setting)
- 3% of users worldwide have a headset plugged in while playing games
The bigger differences we see depend on the users’ geographic locations. The percentage at 10% volume or higher is:
- 78% in the United States
- 58% in the United Kingdom
- 90% in China and Korea
We’ve also discovered that users with sound on tend to have longer sessions than those with sound off.
The above numbers are based on work we’ve done here at Appington during 2012 and earlier in 2013. I’m sure they’ll change in the future somewhat, and we’ll continue to keep an eye on them.
What are my conclusions from these figures?
- The majority of users play with sound on
- Messages delivered via audio can have a significant impact on the overall metrics of a game or mobile app
What volume level do you set your devices to?