Over the years, smartphones have become a necessary tool for everyday functions. Because mobile devices never leave our side, users around the world not only spend a lot of time on their phones but also tons of money. A recent report from Deloitte does a deep dive into mobile gaming and how much users in the United Kingdom are spending on their favorite games. Meanwhile, game apps show the highest retention rates of any vertical. Get all the details in this week’s Mobile Monday!
UK Mobile Gaming Expected to Reach £1 billion
In Deloitte’s recent research study, Plateauing at the Peak: The State of the Smartphone, 2019, the company predicts that mobile gaming revenue in the United Kingdom will reach £1 billion by the end of 2019. The report also includes findings from their Mobile Consumer Survey which concluded that UK mobile gamers are spending an average of £3.59 per month on in-app purchases and a total of £43.08 per year. A majority of respondents (70%) said they did not spend any money on games in the last month, suggesting they prefer free-to-play games that rely on ads for monetization.
The report also looked into the preferences and habits of mobile gamers in the UK. Deloitte’s research showed that males and females played mobile games in equal numbers but had different preferences when it came to the types of games. The most popular category for women is casual/puzzle with 61% saying they play those games versus 43% of men. Another big disparity between genders is in Strategy games. While 29% of male respondents said they played strategy games, only 9% of female respondents said they did the same. Although there are variations on preferences for genres by age and gender, the variety of mobile games available contributes heavily to its commercial success.
Mobile Games Have the Highest Retention
Our partner, Adjust recently published the Mobile Growth Map, a report that provides growth rates of apps in various countries around the world. We previously highlighted the Growth Scores of the fastest-growing app markets and this week we will discuss countries’ Retention Factor. This metric compares the number of users who churn from organic sources to paid, showing the quality of your organics vs. the effectiveness of your paid campaigns. Currently, users in Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt perform much better organically, with dramatically lower-paid retention than elsewhere.
Gaming has the highest retention of any category with an average of 34% on Day 1 and 15% on Day 7. This 19% drop is the steepest decline of any vertical and could be a result of the popularity of casual games, which usually has strong installs and engagement initially but cannot retain users for long periods. When it comes to paid installs, gaming apps average 47% paid installs of total traffic weeks. This consistent performance is a reflection of the innovation of mobile games and the enthusiasm of its fans.
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