This year we’ve seen a massive shakeup in the apps world and games in particular. Games have driven most of the growth in the app economy for years but 2020 saw games reach a totally new level. A new report from AppsFlyer says that mobile games had a 45% jump in installs while non-organic installs for hypercasual surged 250%. Get all the details from the report in this week’s Mobile Monday!
Mobile Games’ Growth is Driven by Non-Organic Demand
AppsFlyer just released their The State of Gaming App Marketing report, which gives a detailed look at results from the mobile game industry during the first three quarters of 2020. The report says there has been a major rise in demand for gaming apps as installs increased by 45% in 2020 versus 2019. Growth driven by non-organic demand was 69% while organic installs grew by 33%.
The report points out two reasons behind the robust growth in non-organic installs. With an oversaturated market, organic discovery for apps is very challenging and gets harder every year. The top games have turned to app install marketing to ensure growth. Additionally, game publishers have strengthened their ability to leverage data to put dollars into the right marketing strategies. They are utilizing data and technology to predict success early on in a player’s journey in their title.
Easier Game Genres Saw Doubled Rates in Growth
After breaking down game categories, AppsFlyer discovered that softer (easier) genres had higher install growth rates. Hypercasual, casual, and some midcore games had at least double the rate of growth compared to more niche titles in the hardcore and social casino categories. Hypercasual saw a huge 250% growth in non-organic installs compared to the previous year. Total installs for the category grew 90% year-over-year.
Lockdowns across the globe have brought users looking to play mobile games for the first time for entertainment and distraction with more time being spent at home. As expected, new mobile gamers would start with easier games and only some of them would go straight into hardcore games. Publishers of hypercasual and casual games ramped up their user acquisition efforts to take advantage of the demand.
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