The mobile gaming industry has become a veritable juggernaut, creating countless opportunities for developers to enter a burgeoning and highly profitable market with all things having been considered and taken into account. In spite of the fact that this is the case, it appears that as many as 43% of mobile gaming apps never make it past the development stage. This data comes from a recent report published by SuperScale, a UK based consultancy focused on helping developers grow, and it’s based on the survey of 500 game developers in both the UK as well as the US.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that getting past development and launching in the market is not going to guarantee long term success either. Based on the findings presented within this report, 83% of mobile games that got released stopped receiving updates and suspended all services within the span of just 3 years.
Such a trend is a serious issue because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making it harder for developers to enter the competitive market than might have been the case otherwise. Many developers also want to start working on their next big project, but they usually can’t do that without putting their careers at risk since around 62% of highly profitable games rely on round the clock player engagement and a nonstop supply of updates.
As a result, 32% of developers were forced to downsize their staff, 40% had to rely on outside assistance particularly for niches like hypercasual games and collectable card games, and 25% of developers came to the brink of having to shut down their operations in 2023. The volatility of this industry may be a cause for alarm, since it indicates a widespread level of economic turmoil that could make future growth unlikely or at the very least unsustainable.
With increased competition, challenges presented by App Tracking Transparency and economic downturns creating a hostile environment, it will be interesting to see how developers overcome these hurdles. This could potentially force the industry to adapt to the new normal, and we may begin to see fewer new titles released on a regular basis since developers would prefer to get as much revenue as possible from a single release.
Read next: New Research Casts Doubts on the Notion That Internet Usage Leads to Depression
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that getting past development and launching in the market is not going to guarantee long term success either. Based on the findings presented within this report, 83% of mobile games that got released stopped receiving updates and suspended all services within the span of just 3 years.
Such a trend is a serious issue because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making it harder for developers to enter the competitive market than might have been the case otherwise. Many developers also want to start working on their next big project, but they usually can’t do that without putting their careers at risk since around 62% of highly profitable games rely on round the clock player engagement and a nonstop supply of updates.
As a result, 32% of developers were forced to downsize their staff, 40% had to rely on outside assistance particularly for niches like hypercasual games and collectable card games, and 25% of developers came to the brink of having to shut down their operations in 2023. The volatility of this industry may be a cause for alarm, since it indicates a widespread level of economic turmoil that could make future growth unlikely or at the very least unsustainable.
With increased competition, challenges presented by App Tracking Transparency and economic downturns creating a hostile environment, it will be interesting to see how developers overcome these hurdles. This could potentially force the industry to adapt to the new normal, and we may begin to see fewer new titles released on a regular basis since developers would prefer to get as much revenue as possible from a single release.
Read next: New Research Casts Doubts on the Notion That Internet Usage Leads to Depression
