According to a survey carried out by TNS and Gameindustry.com, Europeans are spending shedloads of money on casual gaming.

In 2009 Britons spent £280 million on casual games, while the French spent £220 million. Eager not to be outdone by their traditional rivals, Germans spent a whopping £440m over the same period.

It turns out many consumers just can't be bothered with proper games. Frankly, considering the ever growing complexity of PC and even console games, it is easy to see why the great unwashed might shy away from them.

Mind you, millions more are also into casual gaming, but of the free of charge variety. The same study concluded 13.3 million Brits play on various game portals, but that only 2.4 million of them are actually ready to pay for the service.

Researchers also noted strong growth in social networking gaming and and mobile gaming, particularly on Jobs Mob's iPhone.

More here.