With 3.2 billion gamers worldwide in 2021, compared to 1.9 billion in 2015, the mobile game market has expanded amazingly. That is over half of the overall US digital gaming population, totaling 180 million monthly players in the US alone. Currently, 90% of players use mobile devices, and 70% of app store revenue comes from gaming. These stats draw from carefully observing popular online gaming sites like https://polski-sloty.com/kasyna-online/, with a huge mobile fan base.
Looking at these stats, there is no denying that mobile gaming has dominated the world. The global dominance of mobile gaming is still growing, and it is expected to cross 4 billion before 2023 runs out. (According to Statista).
This post will examine the vital mobile gaming trends, and insights marketers and app developers must follow to succeed.
What Motivates Mobile Users to Start Playing Games?
| Reason | Rate of those who play for such reason |
| Feeling bored | 56% |
| Have some free time | 53% |
| Wants to relax | 53% |
| Want a break from work or school? | 39% |
| Needs mental stimulation | 32% |
| Wants some invitation from friends and families | 28% |
| Feeling competitive | 27% |
| Receive a game’s notification | 23% |
| Wants to observe a social media post | 21% |
| Has a standard time to play with friends | 21% |
Mobile Gaming Trends And Insights
- Women make up 55% of mobile gamers
In addition to being 10% more prevalent, female gamers are also 7% more likely to play more frequently (MoPub), play for a stunning 25% longer (MMA), and, most crucially, are more inclined to spend cash on buying in-app. Furthermore, women often play 1 or 2 games, whereas men alternate between games.
If you can build a strong female following for your app, especially if you’re in the hyper-casual genre, your loyalty, engagement, and app spending will be high. Women make up some of the top high LTV users.
- Casual games still dominate the top charts
Casual gaming still accounts for a sizable portion of mobile games, despite the rise of hardcore-focused gaming experiences. In 2020, hyper-casual games dominated the top charts, topping 10 billion installs (according to SensorTower’s Industry Trends Study).
According to the study, consumption of the best 1,000 hyper-casual games increased by 45% in 2020. Because of the quarantine, buyers gravitate for straightforward games, which explains the success of this genre. They are simple to learn and soothing to play with—exactly what the doctor ordered.
- Mobile is growth’s primary engine
The world’s preferred gaming platform and the main driver of growth for the consumption of digital games today is mobile, which is also essential to a satisfying cross-platform experience. But by a wide measure, smartphones are the most widely used gaming platform.
Premium gaming experiences can now be enjoyed on the go more easily than ever, thanks to networking, hardware, and screen size advancements. As a result, customers now use their mobile devices as their primary gaming consoles.
In Q1 2021, people downloaded more than 1 billion mobile games each week globally, an increase of 30% from Q4 2019.
- Gamers want mobile games to be like pc games
Over the past few years, cellphone hardware capabilities have significantly risen. Improved mobile chipsets offer increased results and less battery consumption, supporting higher screen resolution on screen sizes that now measure 6 inches. (According to Unity Research).
As a result, we are seeing an increase in AAA-caliber mobile games with great production values. Players have grown accustomed to expecting this, too. Mobile gaming experiences must be on par with those on PCs and consoles. Players desire complicated games with vast worlds and high-quality graphics on all platforms.
- Acquisitions and Mergers are Increasing
In 2021 and 2022, there was a major rise in the number of gaming enterprises that entered into merger agreements. Zynga and the Embracer group were two notable acquisition targets. Two significant Turkish game creators, Rollic Games (80% for $180 million) and Peak Games ($1.8 billion) were purchased by Zynga in 2021, Embracer Group purchased seven studios, including CrazyLabs and Demiurge Studios.
Many of these agreements involve large mobile game companies assembling smaller developers. One defense of this current trend involves IDFA. Publishers looked for alternatives to traditional advertising channels as gaining users proved to be more challenging.
- Gamers Want Social Interaction
The pandemic made the social component of gaming even more crucial, and it still impacts key KPIs for mobile games like user retention and engagement. It is about the most important developments in mobile gaming because of this.
Games that enable communication between players while competing or cooperating with others typically have more stickiness. More than half of regular gamers spend an average of 7 hours per week playing online with others, and 55% said they used social gaming to remain in touch during the epidemic.
- Mobile ads creatives are on the rise
Consequently, video creatives are expected to remain the most popular ad format for promoting mobile games between 2022 and 2023. Ad creatives are multiplying quickly, but the quality is what counts most. Technologies for inventive personalization and optimization are developing at a similar rate.
Now, data science, technology, and creative tasks may be carried out with much more precision (user-level granularity), all while competing for the best possible price in real-time, even on enormous sizes.
- Gamers will have abundant options
According to investment and content, this year is expected to be the biggest year for gaming. One of the most jam-packed and intriguing gaming launch calendars in recent history has unintentionally resulted from delays connected to Covid.
Live operations will also maintain innovating in the free-to-play mobile markets to keep gamers interested and spending a fortune on their preferred games. Your user engagement approach needs to be on point because mobile games have greater levels of turnover than other app categories, and the market is more competitive than usual.
Conclusion
Mobile gaming is expected to surpass gaming consoles globally by 4B in 2024 as the usage and viewership of mobile games increased throughout the epidemic. Customers were more inclined to stay at home playing games and were offered a way to spend their time and keep in touch with friends. The pandemic’s social networking capabilities enhanced gaming’s social components across all mobile platforms. Beyond lockdown, this trend is still going strong.