A study conducted by ExpressVPN reveals that approximately one in three Brits play video games on their work devices. Men tend to spend three hours less on work per week compared to women. The study indicates that since the shift to remote work, employees now spend up to 67 percent of their work hours engaged in other tasks, including gaming, buying cryptocurrency, and streaming.

The data from ExpressVPN's survey of 2,000 US and UK employees who work from home (fully or in a hybrid situation) suggest that gaming, especially mobile gaming, is popular on company devices. In the UK, 32.1 percent of consumers consider mobile to be their top gaming platform, surpassing PC and console gaming. Free-to-play mobile gaming is particularly popular in the country.

One speculated reason for gaming on work devices is its potential for stress relief, as 78 percent of senior managers in the survey expected employees to work beyond their contracted hours. Furthermore, 68 percent of men and 41 percent of women felt obligated to work outside of their standard hours when working from home.

The study found that individuals aged 35 to 44 and those in C-level executive positions were most likely to engage in personal activities like gaming on their work devices. Overall, 32 percent of the surveyed individuals used their work devices for gaming, and 30 percent indicated they would continue to do so even if instructed to stop by their managers.

Despite the widespread popularity of gaming across different demographics, the UK's gaming market experienced its first decline in a decade in 2022, generating £5.38 billion compared to £5.47 billion in 2021.

Source: By Aaron Astle, Staff Writer at Pocket Gamer