Far from the collective imagination where the gamer is glued to his PC or his PlayStation controller, players around the world are in fact mostly active on smartphones. A recent report reveals the major and growing place of mobile video games in the video game industry.
The Moto G200 on appeal is resolutely geared towards gaming. // Source: Frandroid – Anthony Wonner
As we know, the mobile game market generates billions of dollars every year. But how much? The specialized firm NewZoo has looked into the video game market, specifically on smartphones. Its 2021 report highlights the importance of mobile gaming over the past few years. During the past year, video games on smartphones have brought in more money than those on consoles and PCs.
The mobile game, juggernaut of the sector
The mobile games sector is now larger than that of consoles and PCs combined: it represents 52% of the market, with more than 90 billion dollars generated in 2021. The console segment, for its part, constitutes 28% of the market, while the share of PC gaming reaches only 20%. In all, the video game industry generated more than 180 billion dollars, a record.
Video game sector revenues in 2021 // Source: NewZoo
The growth of the smartphone market has exploded since 2010: consequently, that of mobile gaming too. More than 6 billion people own a smartphone worldwide – far fewer own a gaming console or PC. The correlation is therefore obvious.
These excellent figures can also be explained by the fact that the big historical studios produced fewer AAA games during the pandemic, the fault in part of the telecommuting imposed by the pandemic. However, during this time, the more modest developers produced a lot of mobile games on their side.
Mobile gaming around the world
Unsurprisingly, it is China that boosts the figures and the market, with 31.8 billion in revenue last year.
The three biggest markets for mobile video games are China, the United States and Japan. Asia makes up the bulk of the market, at 64%. In comparison, the European market amounts to… 9.3 billion dollars (10% of the market). Almost a peccadillo when compared to the huge total figure of $93.2 billion in revenue for the mobile gaming industry.
Mobile game consumers around the world // Source: NewZoo
Chinese studios specializing in mobile video games are numerous and have benefited from excellent development with, for example, the success of titles such as Genshin Impact (created by miHoYo) in 2021. Their revenues have increased by nearly 15% in two years.
Moreover, mobile gaming is also the fastest growing industry which is only expected to continue to grow as the number of smartphones in the world is only increasing. In addition, the expected development of the various metaverses will undoubtedly only increase its place, mobile games also being social experiences, regularly shared on networks such as TikTok.
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