Mobile gaming has come a long way since people started playing Snake on their Nokia 3310. By now every smartphone has access to thousands of games. While mobile games are still limited compared to PC and Console games, this is rapidly changing, with faster CPUs, bigger screens and RAM and longer battery life.
Mobile games are also popular for other reasons. They fill a niche in the market of gaming that other categories of games cannot. Many mobile games are designed for short, on the go gaming, without the intricate storylines and time investment you will find on consoles or PC.
The market for mobile games is booming, with new apps being launched every day and here are some crazy stats to prove it.
1. Almost 50% of the global gaming market is mobile games.
According to Newzoo research, the global gaming market was worth $134.9 billion in 2018. 47% of that, or $63.2 billion was mobile games. And that percentage keeps increasing.
2. Mobile gaming to be worth $91.2 billion in 2021
Newzoo also predicted that the total revenue for mobile games would climb to $91.2 billion in 2021, for 52% of the gaming market.
3. 2.4 Billion people to play mobile games by 2020
A report from Activision Blizzard Media and Newzoo, suggests that by 2020, 2.4 billion players will be playing mobile games. That is almost a third of the world’s population!
4. Gaming Is already the Third Most Popular App Category
Mobile games are already the third most popular category of apps, on the same level as music. It is only preceded by Social apps and Shopping apps. For 18 to 20 year olds, it is the second most popular category.
5. 50% of app users play mobile games
Gaming apps are increasingly popular, in 2019, 50% of all app users played games.
6. 51% of Mobile Gamers are Female
Unlike console or PC, which cater more to males, mobile games have an increased appeal to women and girls. 51% of mobile gamers are female, with just 49% males.
7. Men and women play different games
While there are more women playing mobile games than men, they tend to prefer other categories of games. For example, young males prefer shooter games, while older females prefer puzzles. Action games have 63% male players, while shooters have 74% men. Puzzles have on the other hand have 66% female players.
8. Candy Crush Saga still crushes the competition
Candy Crush has been around for over five years. It has inspired numerous clones, and as well as setting a new trend in gaming. Over 35% of mobile gamers play the game regularly and it is almost twice as popular as its nearest competitor Pokémon GO is. Fortnight has the third spot, proving that a game can make the leap from pc to mobile and retain its popularity.
9. Pokémon GO highest grossing game on iPhone
While it is only the second most popular game, Pokémon GO still earns its developers a small fortune on a daily basis. It makes up to $1,442,297 every day, outperforming Fortnight ($1,399,028 a day) and Candy Crush Saga ($1,106,098 a day). These stats are only for iPhone, by the way.
10. 53% of Candy Crush players are responsible for influential decisions
While mobile games may seem insignificant to some, mobile gamers represent a prime market for advertisers. 53% of Candy Crush gamers are responsible for influential decisions in their household. That means they choose which brands or outlets on to spend their family’s budget
