Mobile reports and market data
Documents
Fits Like a Game: A Multi-criteria Adaptive Gamification for Collaborative Location-Based Collecting Systems
The paper, by María Dalponte Ayastuy, Alejandro Fernández and Diego Torres from Argentine universities (Universidad Nacional de Quilmes and LIFIA at Universidad Nacional de La Plata), proposes an adaptive gamification approach for collaborative location-based collecting systems used in citizen science.
- The approach predicts missing scores with clustering-based collaborative filtering over space-time clusters, using behavioural atoms derived from user activity.
- User preferences can be inferred implicitly from which recommended game element a user selects, while the document also notes explicit multi-criteria scoring as a possibility.
- In the offline evaluation on the adapted MovieLens dataset, maximum precision at k reached 0.75 in Scenario A and 0.9 in Scenario B.
Mobile Games: State of the Market & Playtime Q3 2023
This joint report by Apptica and Gamelight analyses the mobile games category in Q3 2023, covering data from the App Store and Google Play across 37 countries from July 1 to September 30, 2023, with a narrower focus on six countries: the US, UK, Japan, South Korea, France and Germany.
- Gaming accounted for 1.54B worldwide downloads on iOS in Q3 2023, which is 20.4% of all downloads, and the total dropped 14.4% compared to Q3 2022.
- RPG led worldwide iOS game revenue with 1.33B, followed by Strategy at 745M and Action at $698.97M.
- iOS remained the more grossing platform, with total revenue of $5.91B against $4.64B on Android, a 56.01% versus 43.99% split.
State of the Market: Puzzle Games Q1 2023
The "State of the Market: Puzzle Games Q1 2023" report analyzes the mobile puzzle game category across 35 countries from January 1 to March 31, 2023, utilizing data from Apptica's Store, Ad, and Market Intelligence sections for App Store and Google Play.
- Match 3 games dominate the puzzle sector, accounting for one-third of all downloads and between 56% and 86% of total revenue across analyzed markets.
- There is a significant platform disparity where Android captures 80% of total puzzle game downloads, while iOS generates 56% of the category's total revenue.
- Puzzle games are a primary driver of mobile advertising, representing over 50% of ad traffic on iOS and more than 33% on Android.
The MENA Games Market: From Sand to Stardom
This document provides an overview of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) games market, highlighting its rapid growth, key characteristics, and future potential.
- The MENA-3 region (Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt) generated $1.8 billion in revenue from 67.4 million gamers as of 2022, driven by a mobile-first ecosystem.
- Cultural localization is a critical success factor, with 86.6% of regional gamers prioritizing language support and successful titles integrating Arabic themes and local celebrities.
- Esports is a primary engagement driver, with 73% of regional gamers participating in competitive gaming supported by massive prize pools and dedicated infrastructure.
The State of Puzzle Games: 2023
This report analyzes the mobile puzzle game market, leveraging Sensor Tower's updated Puzzle Taxonomy to identify key trends in revenue and downloads across various sub-genres.
- The hybridcasual model has become the primary industry growth driver, with revenue surging approximately 430% between early 2022 and early 2023.
- The Pair sub-genre experienced a significant shift toward hybridcasual monetization, which grew from 14.8% to 58.7% of its total revenue in just one year.
- Established sub-genres including Real-Time, Chain, and Bubble Shooter faced double-digit declines in both download volume and revenue throughout the 2022–2023 period.
From Hyper to Hybrid: 2023 Follow-up
The report analyzes trends in mobile game advertising and in-app purchases (IAPs) from H2 2022 to H1 2023, based on anonymized data collected by Tenjin.
- In-app purchase (IAP) activity grew significantly between 2022 and H1 2023, with revenue increasing by 23% on Android and 24% on Apple platforms.
- On iOS, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany have displaced China and Saudi Arabia in the top five markets for installs, signaling a pivot toward Western regions.
- Google Ads became the top-performing network for Android installs in H1 2023, while AppLovin reclaimed the leading position for iOS installs.
State of Mobile 2023
State of Mobile 2023 is a data.ai market report covering mobile app usage, downloads, consumer spend and advertising worldwide in 2022, with sector sections on gaming, finance, retail, video streaming, social, food and drink, travel, health and fitness, sports, and other industries such as business, education and dating.
- Mobile game consumer spend fell 5% in 2022 to 110 billion dollars, even as downloads rose to nearly 90 billion.
- The weighted average daily mobile time per user across the top 10 markets surpassed 5 hours 2 minutes in 2022, up 9% from 2020.
- Global mobile ad spend is forecast to reach $362 billion in 2023, with growth slowing amid economic headwinds.
Five Key Mobile Game Genres in Asia and MENA
This bulletin analyzes five key mobile game genres—RPG, Strategy, MOBA, Puzzle, and Battle Royale—in the Asia and MENA regions, providing strategic insights into gamer profiles.
- RPG titles are the dominant market force, generating 50% more revenue than the other four top genres combined and achieving the highest monetization score of 7.7.
- Puzzle games command the largest download volume and highest engagement score of 6.0, though they suffer from low monetization and minimal esports relevance.
- Battle Royale games lead the market in esports influence with a score of 9.5, despite generating the lowest total revenue among the five genres.
The State of Mobile Gaming in India: 2023
This is a 2023 report by MoEngage, an customer engagement platform, on mobile gaming in India, covering casual, hyper-casual, and real money gaming apps.
- Android installs of casual games rose over 90% in May 2021 compared to January 2021, according to AppsFlyer customer data.
- Casual games and social casino apps saw IAA revenue jump 20X and 12X respectively from January to May 2021.
- The report states that 68% of users launch a mobile app fewer than 10 times after downloading it from the Play Store.
State of Mobile Games: Cognitive and Psychological Benefits
This empirical report by Skillprint investigates the cognitive and psychological benefits of mobile games, aiming to provide a nuanced understanding of their impact on mental well-being.
- Mobile games function as effective, scalable tools for mental well-being, with specific titles demonstrating significant positive effects on creativity (Colorize, d=1.17), focus (Sound Sky, d=0.90), determination (Nature Video, d=0.76), and calmness (Color Breathing, d=0.61).
- Personality traits significantly dictate user engagement, as extraverts favor social and action-oriented games while introverts prefer relaxation-focused titles, and openness correlates with immersion and inspiration motives.
- Game mechanics directly influence psychological outcomes: puzzle-centric titles consistently boost creativity and curiosity, whereas timed or competitive games are more effective at enhancing focus and grit.
Developer's Guide to the Chinese Market
This guide, "Developer's Guide to the Chinese Market", was written by Damian Jaskowski, a Chinese gaming market expert, and is aimed at Polish game developers seeking to enter China with a focus on premium PC and console games.
- The author cites CGIGC data showing China's domestic market generated 144.263 billion CNY in the first half of 2023, a 2.39% year-on-year decline, while the gamer population reached a record 668 million.
- Citing the CGIGC, the guide states that almost two-thirds of Chinese market revenue comes from mobile games, with the remaining third mostly from client games.
- The guide states that ISBN applications can only be submitted by Chinese companies, so foreign companies must first find a local partner to apply on their behalf.
5 Mobile App Predictions for 2024
data.ai's forecast outlines five predictions for the 2024 global mobile market, drawing on its proprietary AI-driven estimates across iOS, Google Play, and (for gaming) third-party Android stores in China.
- Mobile gaming consumer spending is projected to recover in 2024, reaching $111.4 billion, a 4% year-over-year increase led by the U.S., Japan, and South Korea.
- Generative AI integration is accelerating rapidly, with 2.3 billion app downloads expected to feature AI functionality in 2024, a 40% year-over-year increase.
- TikTok is set to become the highest-grossing app in history, with lifetime consumer spending projected to surpass $14.6 billion.
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