Mobile gaming might be something you don’t take very seriously, but in 2021, the market is bigger than ever, and it’s only set to get bigger! Of course, PC gaming is always going to be the main competitor in the video game industry, with plenty of consoles not coming far behind, but how is the mobile gaming industry doing in comparison? And really, how big is it, and how many people really love mobile games? Let’s get into the details below.
Minutes Spent Mobile Gaming
We all know mobile gaming is a popular concept. When you’re waiting in line at a store, or you’re on a train with nothing to do, you whip out your phone and open up a gaming app. However, this isn’t where the love for mobile gaming ends. It’s no longer something just to pass the time when you’re stuck somewhere; mobile gaming has taken on a whole new life of its own.
People no longer play ‘casually’ when it comes to mobile games; some games are much more in depth, and extremely addictive, and a lot of them are ‘hypercasual’, meaning they’re easy to pick up, free to play (at first), and bring people back time and time again.
The New Gaming Services
There are various new gaming services on the market, introduced in the past five years or so. These include Nvidia GeForce Now, Discord Nitro, XBOX Game Pass, PlayEdge, and even EA Play and Google Stadia.
And within these gaming services, there’s the ability to play on the go in a mobile manner, thanks to cross platform support, and plenty of hypercable, indepth mobile games on the market. Mobile gaming is more accessible than ever, and that’s something that has only helped it to corner the video game market.
Money Spent on Mobile Games
And of course, we need to talk about the money that is spent on mobile gaming every year. From in app purchases (microtransactions) to upfront costs for the games themselves, mobile gaming can get pretty pricey!
The mobile gaming market is currently valued at $21.9 billion. In 2019 alone, revenue from mobile gaming came to a whopping $9.7 billion in the US, and this number is set to increase to over $11 billion by 2025. So, every time you press the ‘confirm purchase’ button for an in game bundle that’s only costing you $0.99, consider how that small number soon adds up when you purchase the same bundle 5 or 6 more times, and remember what you’re feeding into.
Mobile gaming is big! In fact, it’s becoming bigger and bigger by the year, and it’s set to eclipse the rest of the gaming market. After all, gaming apps can be easy to throw together, and they’re always right there in your pocket, just a few taps away. But it’s a good thing to stay up to date on how mobile gaming is evolving – you’ll find it much easier to notice these patterns!