Having witnessed a continued growth since it came to the limelight, mobile gaming is set to make its greatest achievement in 2020, and this will allow it overtake the console and PC gaming sectors and take the center stage in the digital gaming world.
PC gaming also accounts for many browser based games. Sites like CS:GOBettor which offer players CSGO gambling games you can play for skins or real money. Browser games also include the likes of Candy Crush Saga, which can be played without the prerequisite of downloading software before you play.
The popularity of the sector has grown exponentially in most of the regions of the world. But the level of growth it experienced within the first 6 months of 2020 has clearly shown without any ambiguity that it will become the driving force of the gaming industry in the nearest future. According to predictions by experts, mobile gaming will overtake the PC gaming sector by 2.8 times and the console gaming sector by 3.1 times.
Mobile Gaming Was Dominant In Q1
The gaming sector has been dominated by mobile gaming from February 2020, and by the last days of winter, the sector witnessed a 17% rise in the US alone. From 5th to 11th April, the volume of app downloads in the mobile gaming sector hit a very huge global high of 1.2 billion. A look at the early months of 2020 reveals that 35% more games were downloaded in March than in January. While the mobile gaming sector took up to 70% of the total consumer spends in the android and iOS stores during the first quarter of the year, 40% of them came from the downloads of games.
During this growth period, the Apple App Store also took over the limelight. The normal trend has been that more consumer spending goes to the android operating system, but that was not the case in the first quarter, as Apple’s iOS received 50% more spending than the Google Play Store during the said quarter. The most popular genres during this period were the simulation games, trivia and puzzle apps, hyper casual games, and adventure games, and the highest grossing among these games were those that had multiplayer and player vs. player features. This gave Call of Duty and the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds the leverage to top the charts.
The business angle of the sector also had it so good at that period. Huge gains were made through click through rates and ad revenue because of the rise in mobile game consumption. In April 2019, the mobile apps witnessed an ad revenue increase of 59% year on year, and the in app purchasing revenue grew to a record high of 24% increase in March and April. During this period, the mobile gaming sectors ads recorded click through rates also got to an all-time high. The click through rates used to hover around 1% and 2 %, but it got to 32% in April.
What Brought About the Popularity of Mobile Gaming?
Many factors are joining hands to push the popularity of mobile gaming higher across the world. One of the major things that have given the sector its mass appeal is the variety of games available on mobile. The number of free to downloads and free to play games on mobile is much more than what is obtainable on the console and PC sectors. This places it in the ideal position for mass consumption of games. You can download major titles like the Call of Duty and Fortinte free of charge, and enjoy them on your mobile devices. You can download a mobile version of an entertainment complex free on android, and this increases the options available to mobile gamers.
When you look at the PC and console sectors, you notice that you have to spend approximately US $60 to RRP the major titles. Though some of the big streaming sites like Steam have tried to deliver better pricing alternatives, this may still be difficult for some gamers to afford.
Mobile gaming is affordable down to the mobile software. The proliferation of smartphones has gotten to a record high, especially in upcoming markets like Africa and India. The reasons for this is the mass production and the accessibility of affordable smartphones and mobile devices, with which gamers can still enjoy top notch gaming.
Mobile gaming also benefited immensely from the arrival of the 4G technology, making it easier and more reliable for gamers to enjoy their games while on transit, with no need for long term costly contracts from mobile service providers.
As the number of people that play or steam games on their smartphones and other mobile devices keeps rising more than those that do the same on their TVs, PCs, and consoles, the mobile sector keeps turning into the leader of the leisure and entertainment market.