Mobile Gaming in 2022

The mobile gaming industry experienced a difficult 2022, marked by the first-ever decline in global user spending, which fell by approximately 5%. While total downloads remained resilient due to growth in developing nations, the market faced significant headwinds, including global economic instability, privacy-related regulatory shifts like Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT), and increased competition. The analysis focuses primarily on Tier-1 Western markets—Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US—while incorporating comparative insights from Asia and the MENA region provided by Niko Partners.

Performance varied significantly across genres. The core gaming segment, including RPGs, strategy, and shooters, struggled as revenue declined across the board, with shooter games suffering a particularly sharp 30% year-over-year drop in cumulative revenue. Conversely, specific casual subgenres demonstrated growth and favorable risk-reward ratios. The Merge-2 genre saw a 102% year-over-year revenue increase, driven by the widespread adoption of standardized order-system mechanics. Similarly, the Match-3 Tile subgenre surged by 85% in revenue, bolstered by innovative titles that integrated timers and decoration meta-elements.

Hypercasual gaming faced an existential challenge as downloads in Tier-1 Western markets dipped by 15%. Publishers are increasingly pivoting toward hybrid-casual models, blending core monetization mechanics with traditional hypercasual gameplay to combat declining eCPMs and stricter advertising policies. Meanwhile, the farming genre experienced a cooling of the hype seen in 2021, and the idle tycoon market showed a shift toward newer titles despite a general revenue dip for legacy games. Moving into 2023, the industry is expected to prioritize genres with proven engagement loops, such as Merge-2 and Match-3 Tile, as developers navigate a landscape defined by higher user acquisition costs and evolving privacy regulations.