Weekly Gaming Reports Recap: October 30 - November 3 (2023)
Unity shared the toxicity report; Sensor Tower covered the Japanese mobile market in 2023; dataspelsbranschen shared core data about the Swedish gaming market this year.
Reports of this week:
dataspelsbranschen: Sweden Gaming Industry in 2023
Sensor Tower: The Japanese Mobile Market in 2023
Unity: Toxicity in Multiplayer games Report 2023
Circana: In September 2023, 22% of all gamers in the USA on PC and consoles played Minecraft at least once
AppMagic: Marvel Snap earned more than $116M on mobile devices in the first year
dataspelsbranschen: Sweden Gaming Industry in 2023
The report covers the results of Swedish companies for the financial year 2022.
The revenue of the Swedish gaming industry increased to €3.1 billion. This is 13% more than the previous year.
When considering foreign subsidiaries, the revenue of the Swedish industry is €8.1 billion (+40% compared to the previous year).
The largest Swedish companies in terms of revenue are King (€598 million), Mojang (€516 million), and Paradox Interactive (€187 million).
In Swedish companies, there were 8,445 employees in the country and 16,494 employees in foreign branches at the end of the 2022 financial year. In Sweden, 501 people were hired in 2022, a 6% increase compared to 2021.
Ubisoft Entertainment (850 people), EA DICE (696 people), and King (621 people) have the most employees in Sweden.
44% of the new employees are female. Their total number in the workforce is slightly more than 23%.
In Sweden, 104 companies started in 2022. By the end of the year, there were 939 active companies in the country, which is 20% more than at the beginning.
Only 14% of active companies have more than 10 employees.
Sweden is the third country in Europe in terms of the number of gaming studios, following France and the United Kingdom. It is the fourth in terms of revenue.
In 2022, there were 31 investment deals, six of which were larger than €100 million.
The ten most profitable Swedish gaming companies paid €250 million in corporate taxes.
The ten largest employers paid €113 million to the state in salary deductions.
23 Swedish companies are listed on the local stock exchange. Their total revenue in 2022 exceeded €5.7 billion.
Sensor Tower: The Japanese Mobile Market in 2023
Market
During the first half of 2023, Japanese users spent over $6.8 billion on games, slightly more than during the same period the previous year.
It is predicted that the total revenue for 2023 will reach $14 billion. The record was set in 2021 at $17.8 billion.
Revenue
From January to August of this year, the Japanese mobile gaming market's revenue has already exceeded $9 billion, making it the third-largest market in the world, accounting for 18% of the total revenue.
The Revenue per Download (RPD) for the Japanese mobile market is $21, the highest on the planet, four times higher than in the United States.
Downloads
In 2020, the number of downloads in Japan reached a historical high of around 800 million. After that, they declined for two years. From January to August 2023, a growing trend in downloads can be observed again, with the number of downloads surpassing 420 million. By the end of the year, it is expected to reach 620 million game installations.
Genres and Games
RPGs make up 48% of the revenue structure. From January to August, games of this genre earned $4.3 billion in Japan.
Mobile strategies are the second-highest revenue genre in Japan, earning over $1 billion from January to August.
Foreign developers actively compete in the Japanese market. In the top 10 games this year, 5 out of 10 were released by non-Japanese companies. Korean and Chinese companies are vying for market share.
Expansion into Foreign Markets
Dragon Ball Legends and Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle are the two most successful games from Japanese developers in Western markets. Together, they earned more than $250 million abroad from January to August this year.
The company KAYAC deserves attention, as its hyper-casual games have become noticeable beyond Japan.
Unity: Toxicity in Multiplayer games Report 2023
Data was collected in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. 2522 players and 407 developers were surveyed.
The proportion of players encountering toxic behavior increased from 68% in 2021 to 74% in 2023.
The most common forms of toxic behavior are cheating (30%), deliberate attempts to disrupt the gameplay of others (29%), hatred towards other players (28%), unacceptable content (25%), and abuse of game mechanics (24%).
The most toxic players are found in shooters, racing games, and Battle Royale games. The least toxic players are in adventure games, puzzles, and card projects.
Half of users regularly encounter toxic players.
Developers more frequently than ordinary players report an increase in toxicity.
In 2023, 96% of users react to toxic behavior. They block such users, leave the game, and submit reports. In 2021, only 66% took active measures.
67% of players stated that they quit the game if they encounter toxic behavior.
74% of players mentioned that they wouldn't start playing a game known for its toxic audience.
Players believe that moderators and game studios are responsible for a healthy in-game environment.
81% of players believe that user protection from toxic behavior should become a priority for game studios.
Circana: In September 2023, 22% of all gamers in the USA on PC and consoles played Minecraft at least once
This is the highest figure in the entire history of observations among all PC/console projects.
In October, Mojang reported 300 million copies of the game sold.
52% of the audience are male, and 48% are female.
49% of this audience also played Roblox. More than 40% played Fortnite and/or Grand Theft Auto V.
88% of those who played regularly watch YouTube.
35% of the audience plays on PC, consoles, and mobile devices.
AppMagic: Marvel Snap earned more than $116M on mobile devices in the first year
All figures are after taxes and third-party commissions.
The leaders in revenue are the United States ($71 million), the United Kingdom ($4.9 million), Canada ($4.3 million), South Korea ($4.18 million), and Italy ($3.7 million).
In December 2022, the game set a revenue record of $13.8 million. The revenue has now stabilized at $8-9 million per month.
The project's cumulative RpD (Revenue per Download) in the first year is $4.95. For Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, for example, this figure is almost twice as high at $9.11. Hearthstone also has higher figures at $8.54.
👉 Many have noted the unobtrusive monetization in Marvel Snap at its launch. There is an excellent article on this topic on Deconstructor of Fun.
At the moment, the game has been downloaded more than 23.7 million times.
5.5 million downloads are from the United States; 2.6 million are from Brazil; 1.7 million are from Indonesia; 1.1 million are from Italy; and 1.06 million are from the United Kingdom.
The peak in downloads occurred in October 2022, with 7.8 million downloads. Currently, the game is being installed by 1.5-2 million users monthly.