Based on its latest report Gaming Spotlight 2022, the first Unified Data AI company Data.ai (former App Annie), in partnership with International Data Corporation (IDC), showed the greater influence of mobile gaming in the overall gaming segment. Powered by Game IQ, the document reveals that mobile gaming represents 61% of the total market share, which is set to hit USD 222 billion in 2022. This is 3.2x the size of the next largest form factor: Home Console Gaming, and 1.7x faster growth than the whole gaming market.
Other findings prove that Asia-Pacific saw the biggest evolution in market share for global consumer spend. China led the growth in Q1 2022, while North America and Western Europe made up half of mobile game spend. Besides, the text announces core games still dominate for app store consumer spend, with real-time online features such as PvP (player-versus-player) or cross-platform play among the most popular genres across the gaming spectrum like PUBG Mobile. What’s more, appetite for Easy-to-Play Hypercasual & Simulation games surged in 2021. 4x March-Battle strategy games emerged as the most monetizable genre, while Open World RPG experienced the biggest rise in consumer spend market share.
The report also indicated that game streaming increased engagement & monetization. Gaming-focused platforms such as Twitch, Omlet Arcade and BOOYAH Live had an accelerated expansion in engagement by prioritizing community building features that encourage real-time connection and interactions between game streamers and audiences.
In terms of players, mobile is democratizing gaming, since mobile genre preferences are more varied, with 8 distinct subgenres being represented among the top 10 games. About inclusivity, nearly 50% of top mobile games by consumer spending in the United States skew female, while Gen X & Baby Boomers had steady growth in mobile game spending.
Lexi Sydow, Head of Market Insights at Data.ai, commented: “Mobile is now the primary driver of growth for digital games consumption. We are seeing greater diversity across gaming genres, allowing publishers to serve new gamers across generations and genders.”