A report by Newzoo has delved into the RPG genre, and shows that mobile platforms account for 63 per cent of all revenue earned by the genre.

On average, users are engaging in 1.79 sessions per day, across 1.43 individual titles. The average player spends 18.8 hours per month on the genre.

A breakdown of the demographics show that 58 per cent of RPG players surveyed are male, compared to 41 per cent female and one percent non binary or others.

30 per cent of players are 10-20, while 29 per cent are 21-30 and 24 per cent are 31-40. 41-65 year old’s account for a further 17 per cent.
The study shows that there’s no single type of RPG gamer. So-called mainstream gamers – those that are passionate about playing games but don’t spend much money on them – account for the largest group at 31 per cent. This demographic is made up primarily of mobile-first gamers.

Millions of hours viewed

Game fans account for 29 per cent of the playerbase. This demonstrates a higher affinity for the genre’s core games, such as the Final Fantasy series and Genshin Impact.

Interestingly, solo gamers accounted for the smallest percentage at six per cent. This comes in spite of the fact that many of the genre’s most esteemed titles are single-player experiences.

Popcorn gamers – those that prefer to watch streamers rather than play the games themselves – account for 25 per cent. This attests to the high watchability of the genre.

In June 2022, a collective 7.8 million hours of RPG content was streamed between Twitch and Facebook Gaming. This content raked in a collective 205 million hours viewed. This makes the genre the fourth most popular genre to stream, and the fifth most popular to watch.
Diablo Immortal was the third most viewed game, while Genshin Impact was the fifth most viewed and the most streamed.

However, this study doesn’t include YouTube, which has proven to be the most popular platform for mobile content, and in the case of Genshin Impact no specific breakdown is offered regarding which platforms content creators played on.

Genshin Impact developer miHoYo made our list of the top 50 mobile game makers  of 2021. We'll be revealing our 2022 list later this month.