Almost Three-Quarters of 2019 Mobile App Revenue Attributed to Gaming
A new report from analytics group Sensor Tower has confirmed that almost 75 percent of the revenue generated by mobile spending on iOS and Android devices derives from the mobile gaming industry. Although the regulatory landscape for mobile gaming has changed somewhat in China, slowing the pace of growth somewhat, the report confirms sizeable year-on-year growth, up 15.4 percent in H1 2019, totaling $39.7 billion across both Google Play and Apple’s App Store.
Interestingly the App Store continues to outperform Google Play by approximately 80 percent. In H1 2019, Google Play’s gross revenue totaled $14.2 billion, compared with $25.5 billion generated in the App Store. To underline the continued growth in mobile gaming, first-time app installations accounted for 56.7 billion, with around half of the App Store’s H1 2019 revenue accounting for these.
Q2 2019 iOS Downloads Rebound from “the China Effect”
As we’ve already touched upon, the downturn on mobile gaming in China affected the number of iOS downloads in Q1 2019, registering year-on-year declines. However, Q2 2019 saw downloads bounce back, growing by almost 3 percent year-on-year to 7.4 billion. First-time Google Play installations were up 16.4 percent year-on-year for H1 2019, totaling 41.9 billion, equating to almost three times the volume of first-time downloads on iOS devices.
In terms of mobile gaming titles that were the highest grossing globally across iOS and Android devices, Tencent’s Honor of Kings game cemented its place at number one, raking in over $728 million after expanding its reach outside of China. This figure doesn’t even include the third-party Android stores operated in China whose data is hard to get. Sony Aniplex’s Fate/Grand Order moved up from number three in H1 2018 to number two in H1 2019, generating approximately $628 million. Meanwhile, Mixi’s Monster Strike fell from the second spot into the third place, grossing an estimated $566 million. To all this, casino sites in Kuwait also please the players of their country with their presence and provide an opportunity to develop the gaming industry in this country.
The Top-Three, New Mobile Game Apps Revealed
The number of downloads for new mobile game apps amounted to 20.1 billion in H1 2019, up 3.2 percent year-on-year. That was solely thanks to new apps in Google Play given that the number of new game downloads on iOS fell by 1.4 percent year-on-year due in no small part to the regulatory issues in China. The data also provided an insight into the mobile games that are most likely to drive the highest revenue by the end of 2019. Good Job Games’ new Color Bump 3D app, Garena’s Garena Free Fire and PUBG Mobile’s Tencent were the most downloaded mobile games across iOS and Android in H1 2019.
Many also agree that the iGaming industry has fast become a key driver of mobile gaming revenue, with the most-frequented real money mobile casino apps offering sign-up bonuses and free spins as well as immersive live dealer casino games that make players feel like they are on the casino floor. The worldwide mobile iGaming market will reportedly generate revenue totaling more than $74 billion by 2023, which would usurp those generated by non-gambling gaming apps. According to a recent report from ReportBuyer, the “liberalization” of iGaming regulations, coupled with the “increasing penetration of internet” has led to the expansion of the number of mobile iGaming applications.
In 2019, almost all the leading iGaming operators now have some mobile gaming platform. Whether it’s a dedicated iOS or Android app or fully responsive mobile gaming within a web browser using HTML5 technology, the iGaming industry has well and truly caught on to the merits of mobile gaming. Some iGaming developers have also acknowledged the market for free online casino apps, which are the perfect entry-level choice for those new to online casino gameplay. Although these free apps don’t allow gamers to make real money virtually or generate subsequent revenue for iGaming platforms, it does broaden the appeal of casino games to a global audience.
While Sensor Tower’s Q2 2019 report on mobile gaming revenue and downloads has not published yet, early indications suggest that global spending within mobile gaming apps was up by almost a fifth (17.2 percent) year-on-year to around $20 billion. Although free-to-play mobile gaming apps are a route into mobile gaming, their playability entices gamers to enhance their gameplay by purchasing in-game add-ons. It’s why the freemium mobile gaming sector is still one of the hottest within mobile gaming.