Adjust and AppLovin have released a new Mobile App Trends report revealing the latest data on apps and games globally, such as 2023's continued growth in app installs at the slow rate of 4%. Racing games specifically raced ahead with the most impressive growth rate, up 61% in installs year-on-year.
Furthermore, ATT opt-in rates continued to climb with mobile games having the highest acceptance rate, and an increase in daily active users further paints a positive image for the industry in 2024.
To pay and to play
Action games comprised the most-played genre on mobile last year with an average playtime of 45.65 minutes per gaming session. RPGs followed closely behind at 40.43 minutes, while every other genre saw a big fall off from there; hypercasual ranked third at 16.36 minutes per play session, despite the genre being built around a quick burst of easy entertainment. Gaming on mobile saw a decline in playtime overall in 2023 but installs increased by 7% globally in Q4. There was a "notable uptick in daily active users" too.
Action games generated the most downloads too, accounting for 18% of installs in Q4 while hypercasual followed at 14%. Puzzle games were third-most popular at 14% of installs. RPGs’ absence from the top three despite ranking second for playtime further contextualises the genre’s successful monetisation of a small playerbase.
And speaking of monetisation, in-app revenue across all game genres grew by 6% in 2023, with adventure games seeing the starkest rise at 31.6%.
Patterns and trends
The Mobile App Trends report reveals a day one retention rate of 24% across mobile gaming as a whole and suggests that incorporating strategic personalisation features can strengthen this "dramatically", as demonstrated by the hybrid casual genre. There are plenty of other avenues to "keep an eye on" too, from subscription services to cross-platform to the evolving NFT space.
"The best way for gaming developers to increase long-term retention is to make their game or app feel like it’s designed especially for their players," said AppLovin VP of international business development Daniel Tchernahovsky.
"AI enables developers to segment users and customise game progression so it feels as if the game’s level of difficulty has been uniquely calibrated to a user."
The steady climb in ATT consent is noted too, up from 29% to 32% industry-wide over the past year. Mobile games specifically now have an even higher acceptance rate of 39%.
"Acquiring high-value users begins with an effective channel acquisition strategy," AppLovin VP of demand, non-gaming Andrey Kazakov said.
"Marketers must understand the channels compatible with their specific app’s audience and goals, and determine how much they need to spend to hit a critical mass of experiments that can drive more efficient performance."
The full report further explores the fastest-growing genres of 2023 and more.
AppLovin saw stellar results in the last quarter with a huge $953 million in revenue.
