Over half of Chinese consumers prefer free-to-play or ad-funded games over premium titles.
That's according to research commissioned by Mintegral, an AI-driven, programmatic ad platform, which surveyed 1,007 people and found that 61% prefer non-premium titles.
Additionally, 85% reported that they spend on mobile games, with 3% spending more than $50 (¥330) a month.
The average spending was much lower, however, at $5.80 (¥40) per month. Players aged between 26 and 30 had the highest average spending, at $10 (¥70).
Conducted in partnership with market intelligence firm Newzoo, the research also reveals a high level of brand loyalty among the demographic; 92% of respondents stick with a game for more than a week, with 87% playing fewer than five different games in the previous month.
One of the many challenges facing western developers entering the Chinese market the fragmented storefronts. The research found the App Store is the single most-popular storefront with 30% of the market, followed closely by Tencent's MyApp with 29%, and the Huawei app store, with 26%.
Membership and subscriptions are also popular in China as a means of addressing strict in-app purchase regulations, with 72% of respondents opting-in to such services.

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