The global gaming market has been a huge moneymaker for decades but has experienced a surge because of mobile games in recent years. Early smartphone adopters from China, Japan, and the United States have been fueling gaming revenue for the past few years. This week we look at the big numbers mobile games have been generating around the world. Meanwhile, brands are taking notice of mobile gaming’s vast audience and turning to casual mobile games for advertising opportunities. Read all about it in this week’s Mobile Monday!
Mobile Games to Generate $68.5 billion in 2019
A report from market research company, Newzoo states that mobile games will generate $68.5 billion by the end of 2019. The 2019 Global Mobile Market Report focuses mostly on mobile games this year because it has become the largest segment of the global games market. Total global revenue is up 26.7% from last year and is expected to hit the $95 billion mark in 2022. China leads the market, expected to spend $21.6 billion this year, followed by the United States ($12.1 billion), and Japan ($11.5 billion).
Additionally, games on iOS devices make up 48.9% of the market’s revenue, while 35.8% will come from Android. For the first half of the year, a total of 19.4 billion games were downloaded on iOS and Google Play. During this time, role-playing games made the most money with a market size of 35.5%. The report also gives a global overview of smartphone adoption. This year global smartphone users will reach 3.2 billion, a year-on-year growth of 8.3%. Much of this growth is driven by emerging regions including the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Brands Look to Casual Mobile Games for Ad Opportunities
A recent article in Adweek focused on the boom in advertising through mobile games and particularly, casual games. Mobile games had previously received the bulk of their revenue from in-app purchases but users’ preferences are changing with most of them opting to watch ads for rewards instead. In our own research, we found that 88% of mobile gamers in the United States prefer to watch video ads for extra lives or in-game content. While this presents great opportunities for brand advertisers, this is also beneficial for developers because it allows continuity for the player and keeps them engaged.
Casual games, in particular, have caught the attention of advertisers who are looking for brand-friendly spaces. This category of games is mobile-first, easy to learn and does not require a lot of commitment, allowing for a diverse and widespread audience that may not have previously been interested in mobile games. Adweek points out that casual games account for about 60% of the most popular games and are earning up to $2.5 billion annually. As long as ad buyers can serve the right ads to their targeted audience, they can continue to capitalize on the rise of casual mobile games.
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