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Israeli gaming market worth $9 billion

74 percent of the country’s mobile gaming workers specialise in social and casual games

Israeli gaming market worth $9 billion

A new study by SocialPeta and Gameis has revealed that the Israeli gaming market generates $9 billion in revenue – with mobile being the most popular platform in the country.

Social and casual gaming are the leading investment category. As we’ve previously written, these genres enjoy a competitive edge in Israel, thanks to the considerable data analytics industries and expertise in the country. 74 percent of the workers in the country’s mobile gaming sector specialize in the genres as a result.

China is identified as the largest market for Israeli titles, responsible for 15 percent of downloads. This is followed by Israel itself at 14 percent and Russia at 12 percent.

Action and strategy titles are the country’s top revenue generators on both the App Store and Google Play. However, while action games are more popular on the App Store, generating 17 percent of the total revenue, strategy titles take the lead on Google Play, generating 9.78 percent of revenue.

The top earner in the games space overall is Coin Master, developed by Israeli company Moon Active.

Casual, action, and simulation titles led the charge in terms of downloads for both the App Store and Google Play. The genres are responsible for 40 percent of downloads on Google Play, and around 45 percent on the App Store.

The biggest names in Israel

Playtika, Plarium, and Moon Active were identified as some of the biggest mobile game companies. The report highlights the Plarium title RAID Shadow Legends in particular, stating that the game has been a strong performer in the US market, which contributes 70 percent of the game’s revenue and 40 percent of its downloads. At present, the game is the second best-selling mobile RPG in both Europe and America.

Moon Active’s Coin Master is also highlighted, with the report noting the game’s strong revenue – over $1.3 billion – is largely due to the game’s strong performance in Israel. This suggests that, although other countries are more receptive of Israeli games – the USA, at nine percent, is the Israeli industry’s fourth largest market – a strong performance in America can still help a game achieve success.

This year, we listed Moon Active as one of the top 50 mobile game makers in the world.

 

 


Staff Writer

Lewis Rees is a journalist, author, and escape room enthusiast based in South Wales. He got his degree in Film and Video from the University of Glamorgan. He's been a gamer all his life.