How Did Covid-19 Affect Mobile Game Market Share & Revenues in the US?

This analysis examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the United States mobile gaming market by comparing in-app purchase (IAP) revenue and market share data between the second quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020. The study utilizes proprietary market share tools to evaluate the performance of the top 500 iOS games, focusing on shifts across various categories, genres, subgenres, and publishers during the onset of the pandemic.

The data indicates that while nearly all gaming genres experienced revenue growth during this period, market share distribution shifted significantly. Casual and Casino categories expanded their market share at the expense of Mid-core and Sports titles. Within the Mid-core segment, performance was hampered by modest results in the Strategy genre, specifically within the Build and Battle subgenre. Conversely, the Simulation genre demonstrated strong growth, gaining 3.75% in market share and nearly $80 million in earnings. Other notable performers included the Sandbox and Classic FPS subgenres, largely driven by the success of titles like Roblox and Call of Duty: Mobile.

At the publisher level, Roblox Corporation, Activision, and Moon Active emerged as the primary beneficiaries of the market environment, securing significant gains in both revenue and market share. In contrast, Supercell faced a decline in both metrics, marking it as the only top-ten publisher by market share that failed to achieve revenue growth. Furthermore, the analysis highlights a sharp decline in the Coloring Games subgenre, which saw IAP revenues plummet by 80%, suggesting a potential need for these developers to reevaluate their monetization strategies. Overall, the findings illustrate a period of uneven growth where specific genres and publishers successfully capitalized on shifting consumer behaviors while others struggled to maintain momentum.