The mobile gaming industry has undergone significant change in recent years, with the rise of hybridcasual as a category, the impact of Apple consumer privacy policies on cost per install, the post-covid macroeconomic recovery then recession affecting user acquisition budget, plus the impact of NFTs and gamefi.
Overall global mobile game downloads have remained stable, averaging 13.8 billion per quarter in the past two years, although mobile game growth has slowed since the early days of the pandemic in Q2 2020. China has replaced Japan as the second-largest mobile games market, while India continues to be the largest market for downloads
Netflix’s entry into the mobile games market with titles like Stranger Things: 1984 has also been a broad success, with over 28 million downloads generated globally across App Store and Google Play between November 2021 and December 2022. One to watch.
The top five genres by downloads in 2022 were the same as in 2021, with Hypercasual remaining on top. Simulation surpassed Puzzle as the number 3 genre by downloads, fueled by Roblox and a new trend in Simulators, Sandbox, and Tycoon/Crafting games utilizing a Hybridcasual product model. RPG and Shooter genres saw the steepest decrease in revenue worldwide, while Action was the only genre to show positive growth in both revenue and downloads, fueled by hybrid casual titles like Survivor!.io. Overall, Hypercasual downloads saw an 18 percent year-over-year decline, while Hybridcasual grew by 13 percent.
Also interesting to note that all of the world’s top 10 revenue-generating mobile games in 2022 support their titles through Live Ops content releases, highlighting the significance of this monetization feature.
The mobile gaming industry continues to evolve and adapt to new market trends and technological advancements. Check out the full report below from Sensortower covering the latest mobile gaming market insights and trends.
