The mobile games market has exploded in recent years, with more people than ever turning to their smartphones and tablets for entertainment. With an ever-growing selection of mobile games, developers face fierce competition to capture players’ attention. In this article, we will examine the current state of the mobile games market and explore the key trends shaping its future.
Mobile gaming refers to playing and enjoying interactive video games on multiple platforms, such as PCs, mobile phones, and game consoles. More people can now play digital games because of the increased broadband access, especially in developing countries.
Mobile gaming has eclipsed gaming on consoles and computers as the most popular gaming genre worldwide. One of the factors influencing the popularity of mobile gaming is accessibility, as practically everyone owns a smartphone with games on it.
Market Overview
The market for mobile gaming was $93,163.8 million in size in 2021, and it is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 12.2% from 2021 to 2030. The widespread usage of smartphones and the adoption of cutting-edge game-creation technology are important drivers of market growth.
The growing popularity of esports is another crucial market driver. Additionally, as 5G technology becomes more widespread, consumers will have access to improved connection rates, expanding the market for mobile gaming. Additionally, as people have more discretionary income, they can buy cell phones, which increases the number of gamers.
Factors Driving Market Growth
Several factors are driving the growth of the mobile games market.
Early Mobility
The Entertainment Software Association claims that Snakeas was the first mobile game. In the 1990s, Texas Instruments made the only graphing calculators with snakeas. Players could move a little snake around the screen using arrow keys. It took until the 2000s for technology and entertainment potential to be united for game manufacturing.
Changing Technology
In comparison to the more than 200 million active iOS and Android smartphones, there were just 70 million PS3s in use in 2013. Many people who might not typically identify as gamers have been drawn in by this high level of portability and accessibility.
When Apple’s App Store first debuted in 2008, there was a significant rise in inexpensive, simple-to-play games. New distribution channels made possible by smartphones allowed producers to save a lot of money. Mobile games can be self-published more easily than physically released games, which are more expensive to copy and transport.
Costs and Funding
Compared to more well-known games, mobile games are often easier to market and less expensive to produce. Mobile games must use other elements to entice players since they cannot use detailed cinematic images. Clever mechanics and captivating backstories are two examples of qualities that are typically appealing. Less code is required to create mobile games, accelerating the process.
Crowdsourcing portals like Kickstarter have made concepts for mobile game creation feasible. Due to the low manufacturing cost, mobile game makers need to exert minimal passion for their work.
Stagnation in Traditional Games
There is a connection between the rise of cell phones and the most extended console life in gaming history. Mobile device possibilities are continually expanding, inspiring innovation and the development of brand-new products. It can be challenging for console designers to make 1980s graphics appear contemporary.
A sector that discourages risk-taking has developed due to the high cost of traditional gaming. A few big-budget blockbuster films are the primary source of income for many big studios. Almost all of these are sequels or well-known franchises.
For example, the Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed titles consistently sell well. While this strategy helps their parent firms stay in business, it does mean that gamers hoping for novel experiences may need to divert their focus to independent or mobile games, where fresh advancements are still frequently seen.
As a result, gamers seeking novel experiences might have to switch to indie or mobile games.
Video Game Market Growth & Trends
The development of cutting-edge technology like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is responsible for the increase (in VR). Gaming is becoming increasingly popular as entertainment alongside viewing movies and listening to music as the entertainment industry develops, encouraging the market’s expansion throughout the forecast period.
As a result, gamers seeking novel experiences might have to switch to indie or mobile games.
The immersive gaming experience VR offers, the rising popularity of VR headsets, and the ongoing development of VR- and AR-related products, such as Head-Up Displays (HUD) and Head-Mounted Displays, are all driving the creation of VR content by game developers (HMD).
Simultaneously, VR add-ons like Google Cardboard transform smartphones into usable gaming platforms, allowing everyone to utilize them as VR gaming apparatuses. All of these factors are expected to have a substantial influence on the market’s growth.
Mobile Gaming Industry Segments
Only mobile games—those that run on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets—are the subject of the study. According to the platform, the geographic location, and the type of monetization, mobile gaming revenues (for tablets and smartphones) are broken down into different categories.
This income illustrates in-app purchases, advertisements, and paid app downloads. The impact of COVID-19 on the mobile gaming market, which is a portion of the overall addressable market, is examined (TAM). The disruption factors affecting the market’s growth shortly have been addressed in the study’s assessment of the drivers and constraints.
Monetization Type
- In-app Purchases
- Paid Apps
- Advertising
Platform
- Android
- iOS
- Other Third-party Stores
Geography
North America
- United States
- Canada
Europe
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- France
- Italy
- Rest of Europe (Russia, Nordics, etc.)
Asia Pacific
- China
- Japan
- India
- South Korea
- Rest of Asia Pacific (Australia, Pakistan, SEA)
Latin America
- Brazil
- Mexico
- Peru
- Rest of Latin America (Columbia, etc.)
Middle East and Africa
- United Arab Emirates
- Saudi Arabia
- Rest of the Middle East and Africa
Future Prediction Of Mobile Games Market Size By 2023
In 2021, the market for mobile gaming was valued at USD 119 billion. By 2030, it is anticipated to reach USD 338 billion, expanding at a CAGR of 12.3%. (2022–2030). With a CAGR of 12% throughout the predicted period, North America will hold a stake worth USD 80 billion.
Final Thoughts
The mobile gaming industry is estimated to grow over the coming years, reaching a market value of USD 338 billion by 2030. The fundamental forces behind this increase are the popularity of mobile gaming and the technological advancements that make it more available and enjoyable for users.
Because of reasons including the rise in mobile users and the availability of high-speed internet, the market for mobile games has grown. The demand for mobile gaming is expected to continue expanding and eventually rank among the most lucrative industries.