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New Research Reveals 64% of British Gamers Have Increased Their Playtime Over the pandemic
Future plc, the global platform for specialist media and home to leading games sites Gamesradar+ and PC gamer, has shared the results of a new research that examines the state of gaming in the UK.
The research reveals 64% of British gamers have increased their playtime over the pandemic. While two-thirds put this down to increased free time, more than a quarter (27%) said it allowed them to socialise with friends and 16% with strangers.
The research, completed in January 2022, was collected via an online survey of 1032 UK respondents – all recruited independently through Future plc’s independent research platform The Lens. All respondents owned a gaming device and had expressed an active interest in gaming during the previous six months. The nationally-representative survey contained in-depth questions about console and device ownership, next-gen consideration, and other related gaming behaviours among British gamers.
The survey found women are more likely than men to have embraced gaming through the pandemic, with 24% stating their interest increased compared to 15% of men. This trend is especially clear in the mobile gaming space, with women on average spending 11 hours and 50 minutes gaming on phones or tablets per week, compared to 10 hour and 37 minutes for men. Mobile gamers as a whole listed puzzle and word games as their favourite genre, a passion reflected internationally this year with the Wordle “phenomenon” resulting in the New York Times’ purchase of the popular vocabulary puzzle.
Another widely-reported trend, the explosion of digital driven by the pandemic has re-shaped the industry, with the Big Tech giants investing in streaming, digital-only formats, and the “Metaverse”. However, the physical format is still beloved by a significant number of gamers. While 56% of UK gamers have purchased a game digitally in the past 12 months, 42% have bought physical copies, representing a still significant slice of the revenue pie for games manufacturers.
When it comes to consoles, the PlayStation 4 remains the most popular among gamers (29%), followed by the Wii (21%) and Nintendo Switch (18%). Meanwhile, the uptake of next-gen consoles is increasing steadily despite ongoing supply chain issues limiting availability, with 54% intending to buy one in the next year. In this area the PlayStation 5 wins the market; 17% of gamers own one, compared to the 8% who own the XBox Series X and 7% who own the Series S. However, next gen units have ground to make up compared to legacy consoles, with many respondents stating they do not spend enough time gaming to warrant an upgrade (24%). When asked what they would consider purchasing in the future, almost all respondents (96%) cited buying peripheral items related to gaming, led by more than half (51%) who desire a VR headset.
The survey also revealed a passion for PC and Laptop gamers to invest in their devices, with 60% of this audience in the UK intending to upgrade either their whole unit, or parts within it. Future’s audience, in particular, is more likely to invest further in improving their gaming setup than the total population, creating a significant opportunity for gaming hardware manufacturers to reach this passionate and informed audience, and influence where this considerable passion-spend will go.
“We have studied and tracked consumer behaviour in gaming to help us react quickly to the changing demands of our 61.2m global gaming enthusiasts. It’s clear from the study, the gaming industry has flourished during the pandemic, with more people than ever choosing to spend their free time on their favourite device. The rising number of female gamers – especially in the mobile sector – should come as no surprise for those who have been paying attention over the last few years, but they are still an underserved portion of gamers. Though FIFA, Call of Duty Warzone and Call of Duty Black Ops proved to be the most popular games this year, our survey revealed women players prefer casual games which should make advertisers pause for thought,” Richard Thomas, Insights Director at Future, said.
“With Future now reaching 52.6m adults in the UK on a monthly basis, in sectors that include women’s lifestyle and wealth, as well as tech and gaming, our audiences are crucial for gaming brands looking to hit the sweet spot with their ecommerce and advertising campaigns. As gaming becomes increasingly mainstream amongst people in all walks of life, the ability to reach audiences in a variety of sectors and niches will be crucial for the gaming industry through 2022 and beyond,” Richard Thomas added.
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Boomerang Partners celebrates 4th anniversary as a global leader in the affiliate marketing industry
Boomerang Partners, an affiliate iGaming & Betting Marketing Agency, is celebrating its fourth year of growth and success. Over the past four years, the company has added more than 18 iGaming brands to its portfolio, operating in over 40 geographical regions in compliance with local regulations. Boomerang is one of the industry leaders, with over 3,000 affiliate partners. From 2024 to 2025, their number increased by 120%. During the same period, the company achieved impressive growth across multiple metrics:
- A 5x increase in the online sports betting segment
- A 2x growth in the online gambling segment
- 194% YoY increase in sports traffic
- 86% retention rate among activated sports affiliates
- 5x growth in active users
Strategic partnership with AC Milan
In the summer of 2025, Boomerang Partners celebrated the first anniversary of its strategic partnership with AC Milan. As the Official Regional Partner of the Club, the brand significantly enhanced its visibility in the industry. The partnership garnered over 300 global media mentions and achieved a 15%+ growth in organic branded search. Sports traffic across Boomerang’s affiliate ecosystem increased by 194%, audience interest in sports topics rose by 81%, and loyalty to the Boomerang brand grew by 23%. Additionally, AC Milan Legends Andrea Pirlo, Serginho, and Massimo Ambrosini supported Boomerang at various events.
Golden Boomerang Awards
In 2024, Boomerang Partners hosted the first season of the annual affiliate traffic tournament, the Golden Boomerang Awards. The second season of the competition, held from February to May 2025, was even more high-profile. Participating teams increased from 226 to over 400 compared to the first year. The award ceremony was held at iconic San Siro Stadium in Milan, where awards were presented in 11 categories. The Golden Boomerang Awards have become a landmark event in the industry, providing affiliate teams from around the world with the opportunity to showcase their expertise and gain recognition on a global scale.
Golden Boomerang League
This fall, Boomerang Partners will host the Golden Boomerang League for the first time. This tournament is a unique opportunity for current and new partners of the company to qualify for the third season of the Golden Boomerang Awards by bypassing the competition for the top 30 or inclusion in nominations. From September 1 to October 31, 2025, participants need to generate 20+ sports FTDs on brands from Boomerang’s portfolio to access the final prize draw. In addition to qualifying for the GBA 2026, the prize includes a 2x AC Milan Experience, including flight, accommodation, and attendance at a home AC Milan match.
Presence at industrial exhibitions
Boomerang Partners regularly attends the largest industry exhibitions. Over the past four years, it has participated in over 20 conferences worldwide, including status events like iGB, SiGMA, and SBC. Boomerang consistently attracts event visitors with a wide range of collaboration opportunities, exciting prize draws, and creative presentations at their booth.
Awards and nominations
Boomerang Partners’ achievements are regularly recognized at prestigious industry awards.. From 2022 to 2024, we won:
- ‘Commission Offer of the Year’ at the AffPapa iGaming Awards 2022
- ‘Casino of the Year’ at the SiGMA BALKANS/CIS Awards 2023
- ‘The Best PPC Affiliate’ at the SiGMA Europe Awards 2023
- ‘Marketing of the Year’ at the AffPapa iGaming Awards 2024
- ‘Rising Star in Sports Betting’ (Operator) at the SBC Awards 2024
- ‘Best Player Engagement’ at the SiGMA Europe Awards 2024
In 2025, Boomerang Partners took home the ‘Unique Gaming Company of the Year’ award at the International Gaming Awards 2025, and its affiliate team lead, Kristina Shkredova, was named a Best Affiliate Manager AskGamblers 2025.
Additionally, in 2025, two Boomerang YouTube channels exceeded 100,000 subscribers and received the YouTube Silver Play Button. This demonstrates the company’s effectiveness in working with the audience and the high quality of its content.
This fall, Boomerang is in the running for 9 awards at the SBC Awards 2025 and SBC Affiliate Leaders Awards 2025, and has been shortlisted in 2 categories at the EGR Operator Awards 2025.
Anton Eshtokin, CMO of Boomerang Partners, commented on the company’s anniversary: “A year ago, I had the privilege of joining one of the most ambitious and unique companies in this niche, and I am delighted to contribute to its growth and help shape its recognizable image. The accumulated expertise, cutting-edge approaches and technologies, and genuine passion for the work ensure the Boomerang Partners’ notable development. 4 years is a wonderful milestone, symbolizing stability and opening up great global prospects.”
Boomerang Partners is set to keep growing and setting new standards in the affiliate marketing industry. By the end of 2025, it plans to expand its portfolio of projects, participate in top industry events (such as SBC and SiGMA), and continue its development as a top sports affiliate program. Join the company’s affiliate partners, set ambitious goals, and live without limits.
About Boomerang
Boomerang Partners is a rapidly growing global brand offering a wide range of services. Boomerang is the Official Regional Partner of AC Milan. In 2024, it launched the inaugural Golden Boomerang Awards — a global tournament for affiliate teams. More than 400 affiliate teams participated in the second season of the tournament in 2025. Boomerang launched six new products in 2024, contributing to a nearly 1.5-fold increase in product users.
Boomerang’s portfolio contains 18+ brands offering affiliate and entertainment services across 40+ markets in compliance with local regulations. These products provide personalized bonuses and 24/7 multilingual support.
The post Boomerang Partners celebrates 4th anniversary as a global leader in the affiliate marketing industry appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
nanocosmos, an award-winning pioneer in real-time video streaming, today unveils a major technology upgrade to its global real-time streaming platform based on MOQ, which will be demonstrated live at IBC 2025 (12–15 September, Amsterdam) on Stand 5.A34.
nanocosmos is presenting their production-ready global rollout of MOQ, built on a Media over QUIC (MOQ) CDN and player. The nanocosmos MOQ platform uses QUIC, WebTransport, and HTTP/3 to deliver end-to-end latencies under 500 milliseconds.
The major technology upgrade to MOQ moves the platform to true broadcast-grade delivery with real-time interactivity on any browser or device. MOQ has not only been implemented for the last mile for video playback on all browsers, but was made an integral part of the CDN, with a high impact on improving the origin-edge network transport, especially for global media transport. Therefore nanocosmos is the first CDN operating globally with MOQ/Webtransport.
For 10 years, nanocosmos’ platform has been purpose-built for ultra-low latency, large-scale, one-to-many live streaming based on its proven H5Live technology, serving businesses where every millisecond counts — from gaming, sports betting, and live auctions to stock trading, live commerce, corporate communications, education and large-scale virtual events.
“MOQ is superior to WebRTC in terms of video quality, stability and flexibility and we are proud to introduce the first MOQ-based real-time streaming solution on a CDN foundation that is ready for worldwide deployment. With more than 25 years of experience as an innovation leader with technology made in Europe, we are once again demonstrating the great potential of European development work in global competition,” said Oliver Lietz, CEO and founder of nanocosmos.
nanocosmos’ leadership in ultra-low latency streaming has also been recognised by the industry. The company was named Winner of the “Realtime Streaming Solution” category in the 2025 Streaming Media European Innovation Awards for its nanoStream platform.
The nanocosmos MOQ platform is a complete end-to-end solution, from ingest to playback, ready for instant deployment with zero configuration. By combining QUIC, WebTransport, and HTTP/3 with nanocosmos’ proven infrastructure, it delivers sub-second latency worldwide across 1,000+ CDN nodes, with broadcast-grade one-to-many distribution and seamless browser-native playback even under challenging network conditions.
Meet nanocosmos at IBC 2025
Visit nanocosmos in Hall 5, Booth A34 for live demos of its MOQ-based real-time streaming platform, 12th to 15th September at IBC.
Special events on the Content Everywhere Stage (Hall 5.A28) include the following presentations by CEO Oliver Lietz:
- September 12th at 12.15: Next-Generation Video Streaming with MOQ – how to build a comprehensive platform
- September 14th at 16:00: Media Over QUIC in Action: A Production-Ready Real-Time Video Platform
nanocosmos will also host a MOQtail Boat Party, on Sunday, September 14th, in association with Ali Begen, PhD, MOQ expert & founder of the MOQtail project.
The post nanocosmos Unveils Global MOQ Real-Time Streaming Platform at IBC 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Football Stats Startup Challenges Multi-Million Company With Free Publication Of Blueprints
A little company from Poland does something very odd for the competitive market — and thinks that one man’s dream can ignite a revolution in how we treat amateur football.
Prawn, the fresh startup from Eastern Europe with the international team, has announced its first hardware solution for recording football matches. But it is not on the shelf of the local store and does not pop out on the web page as an annoying ad. The users can literally obtain blueprints free of charge and craft it themselves.
Such an unusual decision is aimed at challenging the market that has been ignored and omitted by the big sports tech companies for years or even decades. Amateur football is miles and generations behind the professionals in the way players can assess their performance and improve — that is what Prawn dared to change.
They have already entered the market with the PrawnApp[a] that provides analytics for amateurs who record their match performance and upload the video. Powered by an AI, this system gives some key figures — goals, passes, dribbling attempts etc. — and, which is important, some tips for improvement. The service can be also used as a platform for creating highlights thanks to its ability to combine footage from different angles. The app is easy to try: each user is granted one month free of charge.
In this field Prawn faces some obvious competition. Other companies have released their own vision of prone holders for recording matches which is not much of a difference in functionality to what the Polish startup gives away for free on their Instagram page for following and tagging a friend. But there is a difference — the price tag.
Prawn developers, passionate football players and fans themselves, know exactly what the amateur footballers want — affordable tech for capturing their games and great service for analytics and improvement. That is exactly what PRAWNER[b] (that is how the phone holder is labeled) and PrawnApp are about.
The company has already proven that its ideas resonate with the players and sports industry: the initiative to create a global map of available pitches was mentioned 152 times in U.S., European and even Indian media, and their web page was visited by thousands of people within a couple of weeks. The Polish startup promotes its vision with a simple principle: those who love football and want to be better at it should not pay more, but play more.
The post Football Stats Startup Challenges Multi-Million Company With Free Publication Of Blueprints appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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