Year after year gaming apps continue their domination over the gaming industry. 2020 was already expected to be a banner year for mobile games and lockdowns due to COVID-19 has further boosted growth in downloads and consumer spend. In a report from App Annie and IDC, mobile gaming is said to extend its global lead over PC/Mac and console games by wider margins. Meanwhile, a study from IAS reveals consumers’ preferences for targeted ads and their feelings toward data collection. Get all the details in this week’s Mobile Monday!
Weekly Mobile Game Downloads Reaches 1.2B During COVID-19
According to a report from App Annie and IDC, 2020 will be a blockbuster year for mobile games and apps. For the past few years, mobile has been the primary driver of growth for digital game consumption and stay-at-home orders have further reinforced its rise. Back in 2014, mobile games overtook game consoles and PC and Mac games for the highest consumer spend. This year mobile gaming is on track to extend its global lead by 2.8x PC/Mac gaming and 3.1x game consoles. The Coronavirus pandemic and the upcoming releases of Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are expected to further overall gaming growth in 2020 and beyond.
COVID-19’s impact on mobile gaming occurred in phases as outbreaks moved across the globe. Mobile game downloads spiked as high as 1.2 billion in a week, setting a new world record. Additionally, users were downloading 30% more on average mobile games per week in April 2020 than in January 2020. The highest peak was in March which saw an increase of 35%. In the past two months, simulation and board games surged in downloads and usage share.
Consumers Become More Aware and Concerned of Data Collection
Integral Ad Science (IAS) surveyed 526 consumers based in the United Kingdom to find out how they feel being targeted online and the use of the data that is used to do this. Consumers prefer brands to target them based on their behavior and context. Almost half of respondents (48%) said they preferred contextually targeted ads and over a third (35%) of consumers said they preferred ads that are based on their purchase history. Among the least favorite targeting methods, customers singled out targeting based on demographics such as life stage (19%) or job (15%).
Consumers are aware of online data collection but concerned about their data privacy and are taking action to restrict their data collection online. A majority of respondents (87%) are aware websites and apps collect and share their data for advertising purposes. Furthermore, 62% of users are clearing or deleting their browser history. About a third of consumers (33%) are not even aware of any data privacy regulations.
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