Games played on iPhone and Android represents 61% of the overall gaming market, according to two market analysis firms. And mobile’s lead over PC and console gaming is growing.
The total gaming market is set to hit $222 billion in 2022. For comparison, global film revenue for 2019 (the last pre-pandemic year) was $42.5 billion.
Mobile brings in the lion’s share of gaming revenue
Many of those who prefer to play on PC and/or consoles claim they are the only real gamers. If that’s true then real gamers make up a small and decreasing percentage of the total.
A report from Data.ai (formerly App Annie) and IDC predicts that mobile gaming will surpass $136 billion in 2022 — growing 1.7x faster than the gaming market overall. PC and console gaming will total $86 billion this year.
Consumers spent over $1.6 billion per week on mobile games on the App Store and Google Play in Q1.
iPhone and Android democratize gaming
“Mobile is democratizing the space and is now the primary driver of growth for digital games consumption,” said Lexi Sydow, Head of Market Insights, Data.ai. “We are seeing greater diversity across gaming genres allowing publishers to serve new gamers across generations and genders.”
Nearly 50% of top mobile games by U.S. revenue skew female. And Gen X and Baby Boomers saw steady growth in mobile game spending.
Although North America and Western Europe made up half of mobile game spend in the first quarter of 2021, China saw more growth than any other region, according to the market analysis firms.
Players like games new and old
The pandemic was good for mobile gaming. Globally, users downloaded over 1.1 billion mobile games per week in Q1, up 45% from pre-pandemic levels.
Player-versus-player games like PUBG Mobile are among the most popular mobile titles. But “Open World RPG saw the biggest rise in consumer spend market share,” according to the report.
Source: Data.ai and IDC
