One In Four Play Casual Games at Work

By Geoff Duncan September 4, 2007

Another set of survey data gathered for casual game maker PopCap by Information Solutions Group has been released, with this one focusing on casual game play in the workplace. The results? Among "white collar" workers surveyed—meaning folks whose jobs don’t involve manual labor—roughly one in four (24 percent) said they played casual games during work hours—and those numbers go up among senior executives, with 35 percent of them saying they play casual games at work. And the benefits of playing these games? Some 84 percent of white collar workers and executives said the games helped them feel "more relaxed and less stressed out."

"It’s not surprising that today’s business professionals are casual video game users,"

"The face of today’s executive workforce is definitely changing," said Carly Drum, Managing Director of Drum Associates, in a press release from PopCap. "We’re seeing employees who are much more technologically savvy and familiar with all forms of new media from social networking to blogging and beyond. So, it’s natural that some business executives would also look to casual video games that they can play on their PC, mobile phone or BlackBerry during a work break, as a way to quickly relax and recharge their batteries, so to speak."

The survey of 7,102 consumers identified 2,842 as white collar workers, with 241 of them identified as "senior executives." Overall, 98 percent of white collar workers said they played casual games at home; of the 24 percent who admit playing at work, about half (52 percent) say they play during their workday when they need a quick break, 61 percent say they play during lunch or other sanctioned breaks, and 14 percent admitted playing during meetings or conference calls. Just over half (53 percent) of white-collar game players said they played at least once a day, with 79 percent saying they play several times a week. Some 84 percent of players said their game sessions last between 15 and 60 minutes, with 11 percent saying they play an hour or more each day.

Asked why they play games, 84 percent of white collar gamers who play at work said it helps them feel "more relaxed and less stressed out," while 52 percent said they felt more confident, energetic, focused, or productive.

[And on that happy note, I believe it’s time for my morning alien-zapping session!]

Editors' Recommendations

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Computing

This Alienware gaming PC with i9 and RTX 4090 has a $500 discount

Alienware Aurora R16 sitting on a coffee table.

You should be prepared to spend some serious cash if you want a powerful gaming desktop, but it's highly recommended that you check out gaming PC deals so that you can get some savings with your purchase. Here's a top-tier machine that warrants consideration -- the Alienware Aurora R16, which is available with a $500 discount from Dell that lowers its price to $3,200 from $3,700. There's no telling how much time is remaining for this bargain though, so you better complete your purchase immediately if you're interested.

Why you should buy the Alienware Aurora R16 gaming PC
The Alienware Aurora R16 is our top choice among the best gaming PCs as it's built to meet the needs of most gamers. This configuration with the 14th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, and 32GB of RAM is an absolute powerhouse -- it will have no trouble running the best PC games at their highest settings, and it will be ready to play the upcoming PC games of the next few years. There's no such thing as a future-proof gaming PC because of the ever-increasing requirements of video games, but this model of the Alienware Aurora R16 could be the closest that you'll get to owning one.

Gaming

The best games on Xbox Game Pass right now (May 2024)

Cal wielding his blue lightsaber and walking with BD-1 in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor key art.

As the Xbox Game Pass program has grown, so has our list of the best games on Xbox Game Pass. After the launch of the Xbox Series X, Microsoft has doubled down on Game Pass, now offering well over 350 games on the console alone. To help you through option paralysis, we rounded up the top games on Microsoft's subscription platform.

Many titles are available on Xbox and PC, and some even have cross-save support. Most of the games are available for streaming on mobile, too, as long as you have Game Pass Ultimate. The Game Pass library is also constantly changing, so check out our monthly guide for addition and removal announcements.

Gaming

A Sonic game that plays like Fall Guys is coming to mobile

A cinematic shot of Sonic in Sonic Rumble's announcement trailer.

Sega unveiled a new Sonic the Hedgehog game today, and it's a multiplayer game for mobile devices that's reminiscent of battle royale platformers like Fall Guys.

Titled Sonic Rumble, this battle royale game sees 32 players compete as they dash and jump their way through levels. Mediatonic's Fall Guys is the most immediate comparison to draw based on the gameplay briefly shown off in its reveal trailer, but Sonic Rumble does stand out with levels that feel uniquely tailored to the series' iconography and 2D platformer sections that call back to Sonic's roots. A lot of Sonic the Hedgehog characters appear to be playable and can be further customized with in-game items.