A new report with data collected from 13,000 gamers indicates that online spending on game portals, Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs) and mobile phones now account for 16% of the ‘total games wallet’ of the UK market.

Overall, console games, including second-hand trade and digital distribution, still take the largest share of wallet, with 64%. The latest ‘Today’s Gamers Online Spending & Payments Report’ also shows that in relation to MMOs and game portals, money is spent predominantly on monthly subscriptions and buying online credit.

In the UK, monthly subscriptions for game portals (32%) and MMO’s (46%) are by far the most popular and downloading and paying for premium games from game portals is relatively popular in the UK (29%).

“We have seen very strong growth in alternative payment systems over the last few years and should expect the total value of the online payments for games to double in next 2-3 years. Most companies want a whole range of local payment methods, customised for every country they operate in. This offers online publishers a huge international potential as multiple payment methods also increase conversion rates” according to Jan Manten, CEO of Global Collect.

The results show that in all countries various alternative online payment methods have become accepted. The preferred method to pay for playing on game portals is the credit card (46%). The online payment account is second and using a bank card (e-banking) scores reasonably well (23%).