2021 proved to be a watershed year for the mobile gaming industry, but in spite of the fact that this is the case it seems like the inflationary pressures of 2022 are causing significant setbacks that are reversing some of the growth that was seen. Sensor Tower just released a new report that highlights some of these trends with all things having been considered and taken into account.
The pandemic surge brought mobile game spending to new heights, reaching around $22.6 billion in the first quarter of 2021. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this number has declined year over year for the very first time. In the first quarter of 2022, mobile game spends fell by 6% to $21.2 billion, and a further 6.9% drop in the second quarter brought this number down to just over $20 billion or $20.1 billion to be precise.
The biggest mobile gaming developer by far turned out to be Mid-Core, whose games brought in 60% of the revenue that was seen by the industry in 2022 so far. About half of Mid-Core’s revenue came from RPG games, which makes this the most profitable mobile gaming genre right now. Strategy games are also big earners, coming in second place with 36% of Mid-Core’s revenues for 2022.
The total year over year decline in mobile gaming revenues are expected to be at around 2% according to this report, but it should be noted that Google Play Store’s performance are making these figures worse than might have been the case otherwise. Games on the Google Play Store saw an 8.3% decline in revenues, bringing their total down to $33 billion from $36 billion.
The App Store, on the other hand, saw a bit of growth although it was quite minimal. App Store games saw revenues go from $52 billion in 2021 to $53 billion, so the industry itself might not be in jeopardy here. Rather, it is the Play Store that is skewing the figures and making them seem less positive, and that trend needs to change.
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The pandemic surge brought mobile game spending to new heights, reaching around $22.6 billion in the first quarter of 2021. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this number has declined year over year for the very first time. In the first quarter of 2022, mobile game spends fell by 6% to $21.2 billion, and a further 6.9% drop in the second quarter brought this number down to just over $20 billion or $20.1 billion to be precise.
The biggest mobile gaming developer by far turned out to be Mid-Core, whose games brought in 60% of the revenue that was seen by the industry in 2022 so far. About half of Mid-Core’s revenue came from RPG games, which makes this the most profitable mobile gaming genre right now. Strategy games are also big earners, coming in second place with 36% of Mid-Core’s revenues for 2022.
The total year over year decline in mobile gaming revenues are expected to be at around 2% according to this report, but it should be noted that Google Play Store’s performance are making these figures worse than might have been the case otherwise. Games on the Google Play Store saw an 8.3% decline in revenues, bringing their total down to $33 billion from $36 billion.
The App Store, on the other hand, saw a bit of growth although it was quite minimal. App Store games saw revenues go from $52 billion in 2021 to $53 billion, so the industry itself might not be in jeopardy here. Rather, it is the Play Store that is skewing the figures and making them seem less positive, and that trend needs to change.
