Player Behavior reports and market data
Documents
How to Win on Mobile in LATAM
This analysis examines the mobile application ecosystem in Latin America (LATAM) from July 2020 through June 2021, a period marked by rapid digital acceleration due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Brazil and Mexico dominate the LATAM mobile market, collectively accounting for 73% of the region's 20.9 billion downloads between July 2020 and June 2021.
- While Android commands 89% of total downloads, iOS captures 56% of consumer spend, highlighting a significant disparity in monetization potential between the two platforms.
- Gaming represents 50% of total consumer spend in the region, with hypercasual titles driving volume while Strategy and RPG subgenres account for 60% of gaming revenue.
Mobile App Trends 2021: A Global Benchmark of App Performance
The mobile app industry underwent a transformative period of growth in 2020, characterized by a 50% year-over-year increase in global installs and a total consumer spend of $112 billion.
- The gaming industry reached a $165 billion valuation in 2020, bolstered by a 43% surge in hyper-casual game downloads.
- E-commerce experienced a shift toward deeper user integration, evidenced by a 58% increase in in-app transactions despite only a 6% rise in new installs.
- Fintech led all sectors in install growth at 51% and saw an 85% increase in total user sessions.
State of Mobile 2021
The mobile industry experienced a historic acceleration in 2020, effectively compressing two to three years of projected growth into a single twelve-month period.
- Mobile gaming remains the primary economic engine of the industry, accounting for 66% of total consumer spending and projected to exceed $120 billion in 2021.
- Global consumer spending on apps rose 20% year-over-year to $143 billion, while daily mobile engagement reached an average of 4.2 hours per user, surpassing live television viewership in the U.S.
- The mobile advertising market reached $240 billion in total spend, bolstered by a 95% increase in ad placements within the United States.
The Modern Mobile Gamer: 2021 Gen Z Edition
This analysis examines the mobile behaviors, gaming habits, and advertising preferences of Generation Z, defined as individuals born in 1997 or later.
- Mobile is the dominant gaming platform for Gen Z, with 86% of the demographic using smartphones for gaming compared to only 42% who use consoles.
- Rewarded advertising is the most effective engagement strategy for this group, with 54% preferring rewarded ads and 53% engaging with them, significantly outperforming Instagram (38%) and TikTok (23%).
- The COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated mobile gaming adoption, with 71% of Gen Z respondents reporting increased mobile gameplay during 2020.
The State of App Engagement 2021: An Analysis of Key Global App Usage Trends in 2021
Global app engagement experienced a significant upward trend between 2018 and 2021, catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Monthly active users for the top 500 apps grew at a compound annual growth rate of 12 to 14 percent between 2018 and 2021, with the average top app adding 10 million users annually.
- While pandemic-driven engagement spikes normalized by Q2 2021, overall usage metrics across iOS and Android remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.
- Mid-core gaming genres like Strategy and RPG command the highest engagement, with users averaging one hour of play per day and showing a strong correlation between time spent and revenue per download.
The Gaming Playbook: Everything You Need to Know About the Gaming Audience
Gaming has evolved into a near-universal activity, with 86% of internet users across 15 global markets engaging in play as of 2020.
- As of 2020, 86% of internet users across 15 global markets engage in gaming, with mobile platforms driving significant demographic expansion among women, families, and adults aged 55 to 64.
- Revenue models have shifted toward digital-first ecosystems, where in-game microtransactions and downloadable content serve as the primary financial engines, particularly among high-spending Gen Z and millennial male players.
- Esports followers represent a highly receptive audience for advertising, with nearly 50% viewing brand sponsorships as a natural fit and 40% actively supporting brands that invest in their favorite teams.
Deconstructing the Superstars: The Metrics Behind Hyper-Casual Games 2020 Industry Snapshot
This industry snapshot provides a detailed analysis of the hyper-casual mobile gaming sector throughout 2020, utilizing aggregated data from a network of over 140,000 integrated games and two billion monthly players.
- A Day 1 retention rate of 40% serves as the critical threshold for commercial viability, with titles failing to meet this benchmark requiring immediate iteration or abandonment.
- European markets lead global engagement, with France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands achieving a 49% Day 1 retention rate.
- Japan exhibits the highest average playtime at 63 minutes, significantly outperforming the United States at 43 minutes and China at 27 minutes.
Tower Defense Games 2020 Industry Snapshot
The tower defense sub-genre within the mobile arcade category demonstrated significant monetization potential and engagement depth throughout 2020.
- Tower defense titles achieved an average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) of $83 in 2020, significantly outperforming board games and idler genres.
- The sub-genre maintained an average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU) of $1.66 and a daily conversion rate of 3.83% across 900 million unique monthly players.
- China leads in monetization efficiency with an 8.7% conversion rate, which is nearly double the 4.6% conversion rate observed in the United States.
Consumer Insights In Gaming | Blizzard, Zynga, Beta Hat, and Well Played
Consumer insights serve as a vital bridge between internal business analytics and external market realities, functioning as the essential voice of the player throughout the entire game development lifecycle.
- Consumer insights are now a core component of product development rather than a marketing-only function, serving as the primary bridge between internal analytics and external market realities.
- Effective research prioritizes the quality and relevance of participant samples over raw volume to ensure actionable feedback that informs creative decision-making.
- Studios should avoid over-reliance on singular metrics like Net Promoter Score, as tying these to financial incentives often leads to data manipulation and flawed predictive modeling.
Because Games Matter - Abraham's Story - Extra Credits
The integration of gaming technology into clinical environments serves as a powerful therapeutic tool, capable of augmenting medical treatments and improving the quality of life for hospitalized patients.
- Gaming technology is being integrated into clinical environments as a therapeutic tool to provide distraction, pain management, and emotional support for hospitalized patients.
- The Child's Play charity currently supports this integration by providing funding and equipment to approximately 180 hospitals worldwide.
- Specialized roles, such as the Gaming Technology Specialist at Children's Hospital Colorado, utilize diverse platforms including VR, AR, 3D printing, and robotics to improve patient quality of life.
Trolls: The Cost of Doing Nothing
The management of online toxicity and trolling is a critical business imperative for the gaming industry, directly impacting user retention, brand reputation, and financial performance.
- Users exposed to toxic behavior are approximately 320% more likely to quit a game, directly driving player churn and increasing the necessity for costly user acquisition.
- Unaddressed toxicity erodes the player base and damages brand reputation, making effective community management a critical factor for long-term financial performance and user retention.
- Moderation should utilize a tiered system where automated tools filter blatant hate speech while human-led tribunals are reserved for subjective, context-dependent reports.
Superstar Session: Uncover Opportunities & Expand Your Portfolio by Understanding Gamer Preferences
This session explores how granular market data and refined game taxonomies enable developers to identify growth opportunities and optimize portfolio expansion.
- Core games, specifically strategy and RPG titles, generated nearly 50% of global consumer spending during the first half of 2020.
- While hyper-casual games lead in total download volume, core games command the majority of total time spent by players.
- Battle royale titles maintain significant engagement depth despite accounting for only a small fraction of total mobile game downloads.