Africa Mobile Market
Mobile leads the charge in Africa’s $1.8 billion games market
The continent added an estimated 32m new gamers in 2024, bringing the total to 349m, up from 317m in 2023
Midnights On Mobile
40% more North Americans are playing mobile games at 1AM than global average
Mobile players are most active at 8PM worldwide, but some regions stay up later than others
Mobile Growth
Mobile app downloads hit 136 billion in 2024 as revenue surges to $150bn
Users spent 4.2 trillion hours on mobile apps last year a 5.8% YoY increase
Africa Is Mobile
Mobile growth drives Africa’s games industry to $1 billion in revenue
Candy Crush and PUBG Mobile lead Africa’s mobile games revenue with $50m and $40m, respectively
Gaming Growth Guide
Level Up ROAS: Get Your Gaming Growth Guide for 2025 and Beyond
Mobile gaming attribution insights from Kochava + TikTok for Business
Sweden Stands Strong
Swedish games industry revenue hit $3.3 billion in 2023
Domestic sales saw a rise of 6.4% year-over-year
Xsolla Report Autumn 2024
Xsolla releases Autumn 2024 Report on the future of mobile gaming and game development
Latest Report highlights key topics including the growth of web shops, the Influence of women gamers, and the impact of the Digital Markets Act
Industry Outlook
India’s games industry is projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2028
India has 568 million gamers, 25% of whom are paying users, showing a 17% YoY increase
Financials
Unity reveals its Q3 financials as results “exceed guidance”
This year has also marked many changes for the company with new leadership, the cancellation of the Runtime Fee and the launch of Unity 6
Games Industry Survey
21% of game developers in Europe hit by layoffs with 54% now utilising AI in daily work
New employment survey shows that 39% of developers work on pet projects, but 10% have left game development for other industries
Gaming Trends
Games industry M&A activity hits $2.5 billion in Q3 2024
M&A activity in games has grown for the fourth consecutive quarter
Mobile Growth
Southeast Asia's mobile game downloads hit 4.2 billion in 2024
Simulation games became the most downloaded mobile game genre in Southeast Asia this year
Mena Market
MENA investments recovers after 63 startups raised $282 million in September
This marked a 234% increase month-on-month and a 607% rise year-on-year
Africa Is Mobile
Africa's video games market projected to rise from $2.14 billion to $3.72 billion by 2029
Mobile penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa is set to reach 50% by 2030, with an expected 475 million connections by 2025
Repeat Revenue
Less than 2% of mobile gamers make an in-app purchase
Unity report finds that most repeat purchases happen within 30 days of original spending
Ad Appeal
Unity: Global rewarded ad engagement rose by 3.2% in 2023
Unity’s Mobile Growth and Monetisation Report 2024 finds 38.1% of users will watch ads when out of resources
India Insights
Why India's mobile gamers are more willing to spend in battle royale hits Battlegrounds Mobile and Free Fire
New report delves into player habits and market dynamics in the country
Market Report
U.S. tops global marketing spend in mobile, parting with $6.6bn on iOS and $5.5bn on Android
Meanwhile the top European markets for marketing spend are the U.K., Germany, and France
Mena Market
MENA market hits 7.9 billion downloads and $1.78 billion revenue in H1 2024
PUBG Mobile dominates games downloads and leads in revenue alongside Roblox and Subway Surfers
Casual Games Report
Match-3 downloads are down 23% but Royal Match revenue coins it in
Newcomer Truck Star is the most profitable casual release of H1 2024, generating over $1.2 million in August alone
Improving Engagement
Research finds that app icon optimization can boost user numbers by up to 25%
A SplitMetrics study shows that clear and simple icon backgrounds can boost conversion rates by over 26%
Mena Market
Saudi Arabia and UAE to propel Gulf region games spending to $3.24 billion by 2028
The KSA alone represented 49.5% of the gulf total revenue and 61.7% of its gamers in 2023
Developer Deals
81% of mobile devs are making new games, but 27% say publishers "take more than they give"
Only 39% now see publishers as "necessary" as the landscape changes and deals get tougher
Scaling The Industry
TIGA identifies risk period for UK game start-ups and five tips to scale the industry
Studios with fewer than five staff are highly vulnerable to failure with 50.2% studios failing to grow
Mega Mobile Market
Consumer spending in mobile games projected to reach $109.3 billion in 2024 up 3.3% YoY
Aldora’s latest report highlights mobile games as the biggest segment of all interactive entertainment
Metrics And Upcoming Trends
Xsolla releases quarterly report on the future of gaming and game development for summer 2024
Key trends include the rapid growth of indie games, the power of influencer marketing and the impact of recent legal and regulatory changes in mobile gaming
Apps And Att
Fewer than 19% of mobile games receive ATT consent as game CPIs rise 6% on Apple
Mobile game CPIs increased on Apple during Q2 2024 while becoming cheaper on Android
Growing Chinese Games Overseas
SocialPeta Partnered with Liftoff to Release the Guide to Growing Chinese Gaming Apps Overseas
SocialPeta and Liftoff, have jointly released the report 'Guide to Growing Chinese Gaming Apps Overseas' based upon 133 billion ad impressions, 7.9 billion clicks, and 18 million installs gathered in 2023-24
Mena Market Growth
Saudi Arabia leads MENA in VC investments and games market growth in 2024
With 21 million active gamers, the KSA is MENA's largest games market to be valued at $6 billion come 2027
Rpg Reposition
RPGs overthrown by strategy genre as new consumer spending king
RPGs have topped consumer spending charts since "at least" 2017, but were dethroned in Q2 2024
Multi-platform Gaming
Japan and Korea's 97 million gamers drive growth for multi-platform games
The latest Niko Partner's report shows a clear shift as Japanese mobile players embrace console and PC
Pokemon Power
The Pokémon Company caught $10.8 billion from merch and licenced goods last year
License Global’s latest Top Global Licensors Report places Pokémon seventh among all licensors based on 2023 revenue
State Of Play
Two-thirds of Chinese mobile gamers play mini games
650 million players drive mini games growth while gamers aged 18-22 now play more hours per week than those aged 23 and up
Gaming Trends
74% of midcore installs come from ads in casual games as iOS CPI continues to rise
Hypercasual games still contribute 29% of installs across all genres, while puzzle games also hold strong at 37%
Keeping It Casual
SocialPeta's casual & puzzle games report for Q1 finds advertiser ratio rising
The new SocialPeta report on casual & puzzle games for Q1 2024 finds advertiser ratio risen by two percent year-on-year
Resilient Growth
Asia and MENA to reach 2 billion gamers by 2028 as revenue soars past $85 billion in 2023
India is the fastest-growing market and is expected to add 277 million gamers by 2028
Mighty Mobile
Mobile app revenue reached a new quarterly record at $35.8 billion in Q1 2024
Mobile games specifically surpassed $20 billion for the first time in two years
Industry Outlook
Mobile accounts for 49% of global games market share, despite 2% revenue dip
Spending on mobile games fell 2% YoY in 2023 to $107 billion, but increased 4% outside of China
Hyper-casual Growth
Hyper casual games lead ad media buys at 34% share, with US at the forefront of ad spend
Mintegral's latest casual gaming report reveals that video ads lead the casual market with 70% market share
Backend Burnout
Top mobile devs spend a "startling" $21 million on game backends
A Metaplay survey finds that deploying game developers to backend development leads to higher crunch rates and staff turnover
Gaming Trends
2023 games revenue forecast drops to $183.9 billion, down $3.9 billion
Newzoo's latest report reins in their previous projected total, alongside dips in mobile gaming revenue
Gaming Trends
65% of Gen Z gamers spend over 3 hours a day playing video games
The study from ZBD also shows that 34% find online gaming too toxic while 57% prefer playing casual mobile games
Merging And Moving
Q1 2024 saw $2.4 billion in games industry investments, while M&As are up for the first time since 2022
Disney’s investment in Epic Games is responsible for $1.5 billion of that $2.4 billion total
Mobile App Trends
Ramadan sparks rise in Middle East mobile app downloads and purchases
Financial apps saw a 39% increase in conversions, food delivery apps experienced a 169% spike in NOIs, while eCommerce apps showed a solid 27% growth
Gaming Trends
Platform barriers tumble down as almost half of gamers play across devices
PC, console, and mobile divides are fading as 47% of players enjoy playing their favourite games across multiple platforms
Gaming Generations
62% of Gen Alpha gamers play 5+ hours per week, VS only 17% of Gen Z
Livewire’s 2024 Next Gen Attention report compares playing habits of Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha
State Of Play
72% of women play video games with half of female players being payers
Meanwhile diversity in games is a key issue with 65% of men and 62% of women affirming the point
Gaming Glory
Hybridcasual generates 800% more revenue per user than hypercasual
Adjust and AppLovin’s The Gaming App Insights Report highlights hybridcasual’s impressive year after analysis of the top 5,000 gaming apps
Organic Opportunities
SuperScale's ebook serves organic growth tips, making mobile games more sustainable
Longevity is a rarity in the mobile gaming space with 83% of games not making it to their three year anniversary
Multiplatform Multiplayer
Multiplatform and multiplayer games overtake single format and single player
Unity’s 2024 Gaming Report reveals a rise in multiplatform development and with a focus on multiplayer