Sensor Tower Releases 2024 Mobile Game Landscape Report
Sensor Tower, a global mobile market data analytics company, has released its ‘2024 Mobile Game Landscape’ report. This report provides insights into 2023 mobile market trends, including key game and top publisher performance. It also explores how game models, genres, digital advertising, and creative elements have shaped the mobile gaming landscape. Additionally, the report examines how leveraging established brands and IPs has enhanced player engagement.
2023 presented challenges for the mobile gaming market. A year-over-year comparison reveals a decline in global total downloads. Specifically, the App Store saw a 6% decrease, while Google Play experienced a more significant 11% drop. Google Play's game revenue fell by 6%, whereas App Store revenue remained relatively flat.
However, this macro-level decline is primarily attributed to the performance of Android games. A closer look at micro-level trends reveals a more complex picture, with winners and losers emerging across genres, regions, publishers, live operations practices, and marketing approaches.
Examining download changes within the top 10 game genres by downloads, the Puzzle genre experienced a relatively modest 6% year-over-year decrease, thanks to new releases like ‘Block Blast!’ and ‘Royal Match,’ as well as the continued success of established titles such as ‘Candy Crush Saga’ and ‘Gardenscapes.’ The Puzzle genre maintained its strength by focusing on retaining its existing user base through events and live operations.
Looking at revenue changes in the top 10 game genres by revenue, the Casino genre demonstrated strong performance, with revenue increasing by 18% year-over-year, driven by titles such as Scopely’s ‘Monopoly Go!’.
The Puzzle category also saw a 10% year-over-year increase in revenue, fueled by the strong performance of established casual games like ‘Candy Crush Saga’ and ‘Gardenscapes,’ which successfully retained their existing player base and generated revenue. Hybrid casual titles, such as ‘Survivor.io,’ effectively engaged players and drove revenue growth.
Analyzing the game model environment, the ‘casualization’ trend becomes increasingly apparent. Casual players generally seek lightweight and simple games that offer fast-paced entertainment and progression. In contrast, mid-core players crave deeper experiences. Historically, mid-core players have invested more time and money in games than casual players, but their preferences make them a more challenging audience to reach.
In today's market, where digital advertisers face significant challenges in effectively reaching target audiences, there is a shift toward targeting casual gamers. The impact of this change is evident in the 9% decline in global revenue for mid-core games. This trend, termed ‘casualization,’ has led to the rise of the hybrid casual game model, which saw a remarkable 30% year-over-year revenue increase.
While global downloads decreased by 10% and revenue by 2% year-over-year, a regional breakdown reveals several interesting trends. The Asia market experienced a 10% drop in downloads and a 6% decline in revenue. Increased internal competition has led more Asian developers and publishers to target Western audiences. This represents a strategic shift in their approach to global expansion.
The gacha-based monetization model remains dominant and culturally accepted, driving the success of mid-core games in Asia, which generate 79% of game revenue. Tencent, NetEase, and miHoYo continue to dominate the publisher rankings. Country-wise, China accounts for 39% of total Asian revenue, followed by Japan at 33% and South Korea at 12%.
Emerging markets like the Middle East and Latin America are also exhibiting notable revenue growth. Brazil emerged as the third-largest country by downloads in 2023, trailing only the US and India, and ranked 13th by revenue. This underscores the growing importance of the Latin American gaming market. As user acquisition strategies shift towards regions with lower cost-per-install (CPI), Latin American downloads have surpassed those in Europe. In the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, increased interest in the mobile gaming landscape has fueled growth in both downloads and revenue.
A closer examination of the regional distribution of revenue market share by game model reveals that Europe and North America have a stronger preference for casual games, while Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America exhibit higher overall spending on mid-core games. Mid-core games like ‘Garena Free Fire’ have shown significant growth in these markets over the past few years, indicating that Latin America and the Middle East present opportunities for growth within mid-core subgenres. Latin America has the highest proportion of hybrid casual game revenue, with Brazil contributing a significant share.
A review of the top mobile games by revenue in Asia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America reveals a diverse landscape. In Asia, ‘Honor of Kings’ (王者荣耀) reigns supreme, while ‘Monopoly Go!’ takes the top spot in North America. ‘Coin Master’ leads in Europe, ‘PUBG Mobile’ dominates in the Middle East, and ‘Garena Free Fire’ claims the top position in Latin America.
Examining the top publishers by revenue growth in 2023 and their respective highest-performing games, Scopely’s ‘Monopoly Go!’ stands out as the top performer. Dream Games’ ‘Royal Match’ achieved substantial growth through highly effective user acquisition campaigns. Notably, seven of the top 10 publishers by revenue growth in 2023 are based in Asia, hinting at the potential emergence of future industry leaders from this region.
For more detailed insights into the evolving dynamics of the 2023 mobile gaming market, including changes in live operations practices, the emergence of new game genres, and innovative IP collaborations, consult the ‘2024 Mobile Game Landscape’ report. You can download the full report from the Sensor Tower website.
About Sensor Tower
Founded in San Francisco in 2013, Sensor Tower has established itself as a leading data analytics company trusted by global digital businesses including Twitter, Unity, Tencent, and HBO. Sensor Tower offers intelligence tools like Store Intelligence, which provides insights into mobile market trends, and Ad Intelligence, which helps optimize advertising strategies. These tools provide in-depth insights and leading customer support to mobile businesses at every stage of their journey, from startups to established enterprises and financial institutions. Sensor Tower was recognized with the ‘Best Data/Analytics Tool’ award at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2022.
Website: https://sensortower.com/ko
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