More than 1 in 10 UK gamers have been banned from a game or gaming service, a new survey outlining the region’s video game habits has revealed.
Payments company Secure Trading conducted an industry report titled UK Online Gaming Payment and Fraud, in which they questioned over 2,000 UK gamers regarding their thoughts on online security, their spending habits and more. Of those surveyed, over 1 in 10 (14%) stated that they had been banned from a game or gaming service for cheating, abusive behaviour or payment issues, with 25-34 year olds being the most likely to be banned (21%).
Female gamers were found to be most likely to be banned for cheating (9%), though male gamers were more likely to be banned for abusive behaviour. In terms of console-specific bans, PlayStation owners were the most likely to be banned (18%) while least likely were Nintendo gamers (8%). The West Midlands featured the highest amount of banned players, with it also being home to the most cheaters.
Unsurprisingly, Nintendo platforms have the least amount of banned players.
Discussing these statistics, Head of Digital at Secure Trading Thomas Pinter said: “The UK is a nation that prides itself on good sportsmanship, but that doesn’t seem to extend to gaming. Perhaps it’s the anonymity that online gaming affords its players but, for whatever reason, many UK gamers aren’t above bending or breaking the rules to win. This survey only accounts for cheaters who have told us they were caught and subsequently banned, so you can only assume that the real number is substantially higher.”
The report also focused upon cyber security, revealing that 8% of gamers have had their gaming account / profile taken over or hacked, while around 10.1% have experienced payment faults or been
wrongly charged due to a game or app error. 20% are not confident that making payments through gaming platforms are secure. Touching upon the value of hacking gaming accounts, Pinter continued: “Even if card details aren’t accessible, gaming has plenty of other valuable digital assets. A player’s account or in-game character, for instance, will likely be the result of countless hours’ work and will therefore be of tremendous value to them and on the black-market.”
The full report can be viewed on the Secure Trading website.
