There’s a deluge of new data and research to wade through in the mobile games business. Our regular data digest column breaks it all down into digestible chunks.
Read on for the numbers you need to know about minus the fluff.
This column is sponsored by Xsolla, offering the #1 web shop solution for mobile games that generates more value, purchases, and revenue. Get started here.
Mobile games were 49% of all games spend in 2023
Almost half of all spending on games in 2023 was on mobile titles according to Xsolla’s State of Play report for spring 2024, which shows that $90.4bn was spent in this sector, 49% of the total $184bn.
During 2023, 1.668bn people played mobile games; by 2027, Xsolla estimates that this will increase to 1.85bn.
Looking ahead, Xsolla’s research points to both younger generations not only spending more time playing games, but specifically playing games on their phones. 17% of GenZ play games in their free time, compared to 21% of the younger Gen Alpha. Meanwhile, 69% of GenZ play games on their phones and 73% of Gen Alpha do the same.
This younger audience also is 10% more likely to spend money on games.
Six takeaways from AppsFlyer’s state of ad creative report
AppsFlyer’s latest report is very dense with data and insights but the headline takeaways are:
- 2% of creative variations consume 68% of ad spend: Only 2% of ads make up for 68% of budgets, while almost 90% of spending is directed towards just 10% of ads.which the company notes this genre “excels at capturing attention” resulting in 47.6 IPM; for context, games in the RPG genre mustered a less impressive score of 3.1.
- 22% higher IPM for non-gaming ads with UGC on social media: UGC works best in a social environment for both non-gaming (+22%) and gaming (+12%) apps; real-life footage outperforms animated ads by 15% for non-games.
- +20% IPM for game ads without UGC on ad networks, DSPs: Gaming creatives had a 20% higher IPM when UGC was not used; animated ads generated a 26% higher IPM than creatives with real-life footage.
- Hypercasual games hit an IPM of 48 on ad networks: Game genre excels at capturing attention with creatives to drive downloads with a 47.6 installs per mille (IPM) on ad networks; RPG games clocked in a modest 3.1 IPM
- 6% day 30 retention for ads with combo of scene types: A 6% rate recorded for video gaming ads with a mix of UGC, gameplay, and animated plus real-life footage on ad networks.
- 30% better retention rate for longer video ads: Gaming video ads above 15 seconds had a 30% higher day 30 retention rate on social platforms.
Honor of Kings hits 1m pre-registrations
Tencent says that the upcoming global version of its action MOBA game has 1m pre-registrations. The title is launching worldwide on June 20, and is already available in some tier two markets.
Monopoly Go made $336m in revenue in Q1
Appmagic’s latest report claims that Monopoly Go made $336m in revenue from IAPs during Q1 2024. That’s twice as much money as fellow social casino title Coin Master made during this period.
The data firm suggests that this is partly because Monopoly Go is a newer game and therefore user acquisition is somewhat easier, but also says much of the success is down to its live ops. Though Monopoly Go and Coin Master have a similar number of events happening at the same time, Scopely’s title has a large number of shorter events that help boost retention and engagement.
31% of US gamers only play on mobile
Nearly a third of US gamers only play on mobile, according to the ESA’s new Essential Facts report, which also shows that 31% of gamers over the age of eight use their mobile device.
Smartphones are also the most popular device to play games on within every generation, as well as the only platform to see a higher portion of female players than male.
LoL: Wild Rift revenue spikes in the US
League of Legends: Wild Rift’s US daily revenue shot up over 1,800% in April. GameRefinery reports that this was due to two factors; the game’s Spenders’ Splendorous Gifts and the Legacy of the East events. The MOBA made around $190k over the week and was downloaded over 2.5k times.
65% of GenZ play over three hours a day
New research from ZBD into GenZ’s gaming habits shows that 65% play games for more than three hours a day. 53% spent over $20 every month on games.
43% of those surveyed say that advertising disrupts an experience, while the same portion of respondents believe that playing games is more about social experience than about the specific title.
15% of Team17’s revenue came from Apple platforms
Worms maker Team17 made £20m ($25.4m) from Apple’s platforms for the 2023 financial year. That’s 15% of the company’s total revenue; Google Play meanwhile, appears to have failed to hit the 10% threshold to be worthy of being reported.
GameDiscoverCo reports that Apple is listed as a key revenue source because Team17 purchased StoryToys in 2021, which brought with it 320,000 subscribers. The company has also written down most of the value of What the Golf? publisher The Label.
Overall, Team17 made £159.1m ($202.2) in revenue, a 12% increase, while adjusted EBITDA dropped 39% to £29.9m ($38m).
Mobile behind just 6% of Ubisoft’s net bookings for 2024
As we reported last week, French publishing giant Ubisoft made just 6% of its net bookings from mobile during 2024, a massive dip on the 31% slice that mobile made up the previous financial year.
Tencent’s games business made $6.7bn in three months
Chinese tech and entertainment giant Tencent made ~48.1bn RMB ($6.7bn) for the three months ending March 31st. Of that figure, 34.5bn RMB (~$4.8bn) was generated in China, while the remaining 13.6bn RMB (~$1.9bn) was from international markets. Our full story is here.
52% of Take-Two’s net bookings came from mobile
For the 2024 fiscal year, Take-Two made $2.76bn from mobile net bookings; that’s an increase on last year’s $2.5bn, and 52% of the company’s total net bookings. You can read more in our full story here.
Revenue down 1.8% at Aristocrat’s Pixel Labs arm
Australian games firm Aristocrat reported a 1.8% dip in revenue for the six months ending March 31. The firm brought in $875m for the period, while bookings dipped 0.9% to $877.2m. Meanwhile, Aristocrat’s EBITDA rose by 16.2% to $317.9m.
As we reported last week, it is also looking to divest Plarium and Big Fish, two of the brands under its Pixel United arm.
