I’ve written several articles about mobile app gaming and even one about microtransactions, the items that are available to be bought in game for real money. Mobile gaming is the most common way that players are exposed to video games, especially with today’s mobile phone technology. Some people don’t even realize that they are gaming when they download an app game; 85% of mobile gamers don’t consider themselves gamers. Mobile app gaming has really taken off in the last several years and in 2020 made $10.7 BILLION in the US. That is projected to reach $138 Billion in 2025. As a mobile app gamer myself, I’ve seen a lot of trends, some that work and some that don’t work. One thing for sure is that there is a lot of money being made by mobile app games!
How many people play mobile app games?
According to online research company, Tech Jury, there are 2.8 billion gamers in the world with 2.5 billion of those gamers being on the mobile app side. 21% of android users and 28% iOS users play games. 74 cents of every dollar spent in the App Store is spent on games!
In case you’re starting to feel bad about yourself, don’t fret. The average mobile gamer spends about 11 % of their 3 1/2 hour average phone time gaming..( looks at floor). You’re not alone. The trends are showing that mobile gaming is on the rise especially with the pandemic.
One of the practices that I found most common in the mobile apps games that I’ve downloaded are the introduction of season or battle passes. These are limited time “buy-ins” for players to receive bonuses for playing the game that other players do not get. I’ve seen it range from $5 a month to a one-time fee of $14 and as high as $19 a month. To me, this is a way of getting gamers to commit to playing a game for a set period of time. Players feel invested in the game once they’ve purchased a pass and will probably play the game more and, as such, more likely to spend more money in game. It’s important to understand that most video game app developers do not rely on the $1 to $2 dollar players. They are hoping to catch a “whale”. A whale is a term used in mobile gaming to describe those players who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single game. There are plenty of those individuals that help keep mobile app games afloat. If you’re wondering what a whale might be, there’s a story of a guy in the UK Who had requested from EA the sum total of his transactions for his FIFA account. He was shocked to see that he spent over €10,000 in one year alone playing an average of 3 hours a day. Another woman in the US who was arrested for embezzling money from her law firm had spent over $6000 of that money on mafia wars. In one of the games I play, one of my fellow gamers spent $800 in the first season! So I guess I can say don’t feel too hard on yourself for dropping $30-$40 on a game that you really like, however, exercise caution and restraint because these things can really get away from you!
The most played and most profitable mobile app games are puzzle games, but as you can see from the list below there’s a game for everyone to have their money taken. There are some games where in game items have become NFT’s and are being traded for lots of money. In some cases $500 to $1500 for rare cosmetic items.
Who are the current gaming app leaders and what are players buying?
DOTA 2- Defense of the Ancients 2 made 47 million in 2021. The game has been around since 2013 and because of this there has been a lot of exclusive items that are no longer available for players. All of the items available are cosmetic, meaning they have no effect on the player winning the game they just change how the player looks or interacts with the environment. This is one of the games that has a large NFT market.
Player unknown Battlegrounds/PUBG made $11 million in 2021. Players can use UC, the main currency in PUBG, to unlock cosmetic items for the parachutes, guns, outfits, and emotes.
Candy Crush made $857 million in 2020 with a majority of the purchases going to extra lives, moves, hammers, and gold bars. Candy crush is the third highest grossing game ever outside of China.
Among Us was is a slow burner when it comes to success and has made $87 million since it’s launch with $53 million of that coming in 2020. Among Us has over 324 million downloads to date. Players can purchase a variety of cosmetic items including skins and pets with beans that are earned from playing the game and earning XP or players can buy stars with real world money.
Angry Birds just recently posted earning in 2021 of $79 million and over 600 million since it’s release in 2015. That with the first Angry Birdsd movie making 352 million and the sequel coming up with another $152 Million.
The biggest thing to keep in mind when playing mobile app games is that the majority of Microtransactions are geared towards cosmetics or things that makes your character look different but have no effect on actual gameplay. There are some exceptions to this but not many. The majority of these game app developers rely on microtransactions to continue to update and publish new games, so if you enjoy a particular game or developer it wouldn’t hurt to show some support by purchasing a few items. You’re not cheating, you’re probably not going to gain any advantage over any other player, and it’s not a necessary thing to do. Most microtransactions are not that expensive and you can get something for less than the cost of a cup of coffee and it goes to something that has brought you joy, hopefully. Enjoy your games responsibly!
