During the pandemic, the number of downloads of mobile games increased by 45%, AppsFlyer calculated. Hyper-casual games have grown the most – applications with simple controls and no storyline that do not take a lot of user time
In the first nine months of 2020, the number of downloads of mobile games increased by 45% compared to the same period last year. This is stated in a November study by the analyst firm AppsFlyer. She does not provide absolute figures, but notes that the pace was higher than last year, when growth was 32% compared to 2018.
At the same time, organic growth in downloads of mobile games was 33% compared to 21% in 2019, and inorganic (when the developer applied marketing) – 69 instead of 66% a year ago.
From February to August, global mobile game purchases grew 67%, AppsFlyer calculated. This figure began to rise in March and peaked in May – an increase of 25% compared to February 2020.
As part of the study, AppsFlyer analyzed data on 9.2 billion installs of 13,000 apps, out of those with over 3,000 monthly downloads.
What kind of games aroused the greatest interest among Russians – in the material of RBC.
Social distancing during the pandemic led people looking for entertainment and distraction to play mobile games, many of them for the first time. “It is important that the developers of gaming applications recognized the opportunity to grow their user base in time and took full advantage of this trend. Brands that have taken quick and decisive steps to meet the increased demand for mobile games have led the way in user engagement during their peak quarantine activity, ”said AppsFlyer spokesman Adam Smart.
According to AppsFlyer’s data, in Europe, revenue from domestic purchases in mobile games on the iOS platform during lockdowns grew by 18%, and on Android – by 6% (the company does not provide absolute figures). However, later these indicators decreased by 32 and 14%, respectively, mainly “due to the Russian segment of the market,” the study says. In Russia, the prevalence of in-app purchases regularly dropped – if in January it reached 15.4% on iOS and 15.8% on Android, then in July – already 9.2 and 11.6%, respectively. In August, these indicators rose within 1 percentage point.
According to an earlier study conducted by the analytical agency Superdata and Wargaming, in the first half of 2020 the volume of the gaming market in Russia amounted to $ 1.15 billion, which is 21% more than a year earlier. The largest increase was recorded in the segment of mobile games, whose revenue was $ 498 million (an increase of 37%), and the audience of mobile games reached 66 million people.
According to analytical agency NewZoo, in 2020 the volume of the global gaming industry will reach $ 159.3 billion, which is 9.3% higher than last year. The segment of mobile games will have $ 77.2 billion (growth – 13.3%). The analyst agency App Annie emphasizes that in the third quarter of 2020, more than $ 20 billion was spent on purchases in app stores, which was the largest quarterly indicator in the history of the industry. The company estimates that the global mobile games market will exceed $ 120 billion by 2021.
Vladislav Berezhnoy, an expert in the media and entertainment practice of PwC in Russia, said that the Russian mobile games market shows indicators similar to other countries, for example, the Russian casual games market in Russia will grow by 10%, in the USA – by 8.2%, in China – by 10.2%, in France – by 10.3%.
However, the general director of My.Games (the gaming division of Mail.ru Group) Vasily Maguryan told RBC that the growth in mobile games performance is associated with active investments: “Many companies got the opportunity to invest additionally in the free market after the outflow of budgets and did not miss the moment to take advantage of this opportunity.” At the same time, he noted that the intensity of game monetization in Russia remains below the global average by about 4 times.
Co-founder of the Russian game production studio Gaijin Entertainment Anton Yudintsev noted that the volume of the mobile games market in Russia was traditionally smaller than in other countries, and now the long-expected leveling of this situation is noticeable. “Russian users traditionally pay less than Europeans and Americans, but free games are one of the cheapest forms of entertainment, so it’s quite possible to play and not pay or pay little,” he added.
According to Konstantin Sakhnov, co-owner of the gaming publishing house and JustForward studio, so-called casual and mid-core products are in the top ten most earning genres on the Russian mobile games market. Casual games are designed for a wide audience, they are distinguished by simple rules, easy controls and an uncomplicated plot (for example, games where you need to collect three elements in a row), while mid-core games require more time to understand the mechanics of the application, although they are also designed to be easy and a short game.
“However, in terms of the number of installations, they are confidently overtaken by hyper-casual games, thanks to which we see such an explosive growth in gaming activity. These are the simplest toys, equally well suited to players of any age, gender and social status, ”the expert says, stressing that such games do not require financial costs (they earn money from advertising) and do not take much time, since they do not require immersion and study gameplay.
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