Special Report

$1.5 billion revenue and 1.1 billion downloads weekly - how healthy is the mobile games market?

The new data.ai and Deconstructor of Fun report reveals the reality of the global mobile games market in 2022

$1.5 billion revenue and 1.1 billion downloads weekly - how healthy is the mobile games market?

This article is part of an ongoing series of data-driven articles from PocketGamer.biz and data.ai (formerly App Annie) highlighting trends in the global mobile games sector using data.ai’s Game IQ analytics.

Mobile Gaming 2022 and Beyond: Defying Economic Headwinds, is a new report from data.ai and Deconstructor Of Fun, which provides detailed new insight into the global mobile games market and breakdowns of key consumer habits and genres.

The good news is that despite a dip over the last year, the global mobile games market remains buoyant. After reaching new heights in 2020, the changes to platform privacy and the end of lockdown did lead to a decline in engagement. Despite this, mobile games still represent 61 percent of all consumer spending in apps - a figure which would be far larger if accounting for in-app ad revenue.

In the third quarter (Q3) of 2022, each week consumers spent more than $1.5 billion and downloaded more than 1.1 billion games. While this is a slight decrease on the same quarter in 2021, it remains a comfortable 25 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels in Q3 2019.

By the numbers

Taking both of the leading app stores into account, the report gives detailed information on the key metrics for the global mobile games market, showing the sector still performing well, despite the economic environment.

Downloads

Globally, there were 4.57 billion games downloaded in September 2022, a decline from the high of 5.5 billion in January of the same year, but a rise from the 4.46 billion downloads generated in September 2021.

Time spent

In terms of hours of engagement, the figures are similarly encouraging, with recent dips still part of an overall trend upwards. September 2022 saw 26.57 billion hours of time being spent in mobile games. While this is a drop from July 22’s 29.7 billion hours - and the huge spike in April 2020, which generated over 30.43 billion hours - it represents growth of nearly 10 billion hours since January 2019.

Consumer Spend

When it comes to revenue and consumer spend, the picture is a little more nuanced. Players generated $6.5 billion in September 2022, a drop of over £1 billion from the global peak in July 2021, which produced $7.73 billion. Again, the general trend is upwards, since the $5.59 billion generated in January 2019, although the market has been more volatile and uncertain over the past 12 months, taking us to a point slightly below the $6.94 billion from September 2021.

H1 2022

If we look at the results for the first half of this year, we can see these results in context.

There were 30 billion games downloaded in the first six months of 2022, with Google Play generating the lion’s share of these numbers.

The report notes that Apple’s deprecation of IDFA and launch of ATT for advertising targeting, has led to Google Play becoming the preferred platform for testing and launching new titles since it has not implemented similar privacy changes.

The growing vertical integration within the market, as mobile game publishers acquire advertising technology to gain more ownership over their data, is also highlighted as a trend.

Consumer spend hit $41.2 billion dollars in the same six-month period, with iOS leading the way generating $24.6 billion of the total.

Again the report provides some context for the market, noting that ongoing consolidation has seen a growing number of leading mobile publishers being acquired by larger games companies. It also asks if this is likely to lead to more intellectual property (IP) from the PC and console markets entering the mobile space.

The changing legal landscape is also mentioned, with a number of significant court rulings around the world opening up new opportunities for alternative payment systems, along with the ongoing restrictions in China which are causing companies in that market to pursue new opportunities internationally.

Download Now

This analysis and much more can be found in data.ai and Deconstructor of Fun’s new interactive Mobile Gaming 2022 and Beyond: Defying Economic Headwinds report. Alongside key economic trends, the report drills down into the performance of the leading game genres, with the market leaders and strategies for the rapidly evolving marketplace. Download your copy here.

Find Out More

If you’re enjoying the insights from data.ai, you can listen in to the company’s new Game Changers podcast, which takes a deep dive into different aspects of the global mobile games market.

PocketGamer.biz regularly posts content from a variety of guest writers across the games industry. These encompass a wide range of topics and people from different backgrounds and diversities, sharing their opinion on the hottest trending topics, undiscovered gems and what the future of the business holds.