Game on: nearly 17 million Australians played online games in June, as online gaming use continues to grow – Ipsos iris data
21.05 million people use a news website or app in June, reaching 95.1% of online Australians
22 July 2025 – Australians are embracing online gaming in huge numbers, with nearly 17 million visiting a games website or app in June, new Ipsos iris data shows.
The use of online games has continued to steadily grow nationwide over the past year, up 3.9%. Almost eight in 10 Australians (76%) aged over 14 used a games website or app on computer, mobile or tablet, spending an average of 9.8 hours or about 20 minutes a day playing games.
The data reveals gaming content is not just for Gen Z or Millennials. People aged 55 to 64, spend more time playing online games than any other age group (19 hours a month).
Men and women spend about the same time online playing games; however, men are more likely to consume gaming information, along with those aged 14 to 24.
In addition to the consumption of games on computer, mobile and tablet, the Ipsos iris Establishment Survey for 12 months to March 2025 has found that 36% of households own a gaming console.
The chart below shows the Games brands’ ranking during June 2025 for online audience size by gender
True crime, sport and ongoing global conflict drive news websites and apps usage
Trending Australian and global news events have resulted in 21.05 million people, or 95.1% of online Australians aged 14 and over, using a news website or app during June.
Total news audience was slightly down compared to May, when Federal election coverage dominated the news cycle.
Australians spent nearly five hours consuming news content online during June, which was on par with the same time last year.
Trending Australian news stories included the disappearance and alleged murder of Queensland teenager Pheobe Bishop, the Erin Patterson “mushroom murder” trial and the second game of the 2025 NRL State of Origin series.
In global news, the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the Ukraine continued to dominate headlines, along with the surprise Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities, Iran’s retaliatory mission and the subsequent US air strikes. The Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad and the multi-day, multi-million-dollar wedding of American businessman Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez also captured Australians’ attention, as they sought out coverage on all the events, celebrity sightings and fashion.
The chart below shows the News brands’ ranking during June 2025 by online audience size.
Energy suppliers, sports and games see online audience increases in June
Categories with the highest month-on-month growth were energy suppliers/utilities, sports and games, with most other categories remaining stable or showing a modest decline compared to the peak audiences reached in May.
Categories with the largest year-on-year increases in online audiences were automotive (+6.8%), homes and property (+5.5%), games (+3.9%) and entertainment (+3.7%).
Ipsos iris, Australia’s digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia, showed that 22.127 million Australians used the internet in June.
Australians aged 14+ spent an average of 4.9 hours per day online in June 2025, which was up 8.2% compared to the same time last year.
The most consumed website and app categories in June were search (22 million), social networking (22 million), technology (22 million), retail (21.8 million) and entertainment (21.8 million).
Ipsos iris, which officially launched in March 2023, provides accurate data about the 22.1 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone, PC/laptop and tablet devices.
Notes for editors:
- Ipsos iris is an independent source of truth for the media industry providing a level playing field for comparison of audience reach and characteristics and supporting the $16.4 billion Australian online advertising market (Source; IAB Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report prepared by PWC CY24)
- Ipsos iris provides accuracy in solving cross-device deduplication, the biggest challenge in measuring online audiences, using a single-source multi-device panel measuring activity on 8,000 smartphone, PC, laptop and tablet devices
- Ipsos iris provides accurate data about the number of people who visit the content of digital publishers and platforms, along with the frequency of visits and time spent by tracking digital audience behaviour across desktop/laptop, smartphone, and tablets. It uses a hybrid methodology that combines metered data from a high quality, nationally representative, single-source passive panel with site-centric census measurement via media owner tagging.
- In February 2024, the CTV audience currency integration from a data partnership with OzTAM launched, providing total unduplicated digital audience currency data for BVOD across CTV, smartphones, tablets, and computers.
- In August 2024, enriched YouTube audience reach and watch time data for Connected TV across mobile, desktop and tablets was integrated into Ipsos iris, in collaboration with Google and IAB Australia.
- Ipsos iris is fully privacy compliant and cross-media ready and will continue to evolve with a roadmap of enhancements over 2024 and beyond. It will also be adaptable to changing requirements as the industry develops in future years.
- The launch of Ipsos iris with monthly data from January 2023 was the culmination of extensive work by the IAB and its Measurement Council that commenced in early 2021 with a strategic review of industry requirements. Ipsos was awarded the IAB’s endorsement, having best met the standards on criteria across all areas of product along with criteria for operations and a future roadmap.
- Further information can be found at: https://iris-au.ipsos.com/