data.ai: State of Mobile 2023
data.ai: State of Mobile 2023
data.ai shared its annual report with a massive data chunk. There is a gaming part too.
The report is generally dedicated to the mobile market, but we will focus on the gaming numbers.
Mobile market
In 2022 mobile market earned $167B. It’s 2% lower than in 2021.
In 2022 mobile apps have been downloaded 255 billion times. An increase to 2021 is 11%.
Game marketing spending growth declined from 22.9% YoY in 2021 to 14% YoY in 2022. In 2023 the growth will be slower too - about 7.5% with the overall spending up to $362B.
Games revenue has been declining in the majority of developed markets in 2022. In many countries (the US, the UK, and Germany) we can see a direct correlation with decreased disposable income. Spending on apps, on the opposite, has been growing despite the lower income.
Games - overall numbers
Mobile Games revenue in 2022 decreased by 5% to 2021 and was $110B.
Downloads of mobile games continue to grow. In 2022 the pace of download growth increased twice compared to 2021.
Top genres by revenue
RPG - $25.5B revenue (-8.3% YoY). Downloads increased by 3.9%. Genre is generating 31% of overall mobile gaming revenue and 3% of downloads.
Strategy - $12.1B revenue (-6.6% YoY). Downloads growth by 10%. Genre is responsible for 15% of mobile gaming revenue and 2% of downloads.
Match - $8.7B of revenue (-5.4% YoY). Downloads increased by 11% in 2022. Genre is generating 11% of overall gaming revenue and 5% of overall gaming downloads (2.8B).
Casino - $8.3B of revenue (-1.7% YoY). Growth by downloads in 2022 was a significant 48%. The casino is responsible for 10% of overall gaming revenue and 3% of overall downloads.
Simulation - $8.1B of revenue (-16.8% YoY). Growth by downloads - 13.5%. The genre is responsible for 10% of overall revenue and 17% of overall downloads (10.1B).
Trends
Positive growth dynamic by revenue in 2022 showed MOBA (Honor of Kings is the leader), Roguelike ARPG (Survivor.io), Idle RPG, casino, and Match 3.
Positive dynamic by downloads showed hypercasual games (Phone Case DIY), driving simulators (Offroad Truck Simulator), creative sandboxes (ROBLOX), sports simulators (8 Ball Pool), and Merge games (2248 Puzzle).
An increase in time spent was experienced by creative sandboxes, Team Battle RPGs, 4X-Strategies. A huge drop happened with Battle Royale games.
Younger audiences prefer party games, simulation, and shooters. A more mature audience is choosing Match 3, slots, puzzles.
Countries-leaders
1/3 of gaming mobile revenue is generated by companies with HQ in China. Their impact since 2020 is growing. Positive dynamics are showing companies from Israel and South Korea.
Companies with HQ in the US have lost some percent of the market since 2021. Japanese companies are losing their positions since 2020 too.