iOS gamers downloaded 5 million titles a day in March - Study

The iOS platform has become the most popular for established publishers and indie game makers alike, and a new combined analytics study by Newzoo and Distimo illustrates why. Today, the two firms announced research results that indicate there were 63 million people in March 2011 who used Apple's iOS as a gaming platform in the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, The Netherlands, and Belgium.

Those 63 million gamers are reportedly making significant expenditures on games. Calling games "the largest single App-category on Apple App Stores," the study said that gamers download an average of 2.5 games per month.

Newzoo and Distimo's research further indicated that more than 5 million games were downloaded from the App Store a day in the aforementioned seven countries in March. The vast majority of these games--90 percent, or 4.6 million--were purchased for use on the iPhone and iPod Touch. The iPad took 9 percent of that figure with 430,000 games reportedly purchased, while Mac gamers accounted for just 1 percent at 41,000 units.

Of the top 300 most-downloaded iOS games, the study found that 88 percent are free. However, the study also found that 40 percent of total sales on the iPhone/iPod Touch and 32 percent on the iPad came from in-game transactions, irrespective of whether the game was free or paid. The study also found that in-game transactions will surpass upfront purchases by the second half of 2011.