Category: Mobile Gaming

Mobile Gaming is better than sex for some Americans

| May 16, 2014

20% of American gamers would rather forgo sex than mobile games for a week.

Part II of the Mobile Gaming Chronicles survey from the mobile social gaming network PlayPhone, revealed the main spending habit and behavior trends of American mobile gamers and, among other surprising discoveries, the survey found that if they had to make a choice, one in five respondents would rather go without sex than mobile games for a week.

The group surveyed consisted of 1,000 Americans who play games on tablets and smartphones.

According to the survey, 37% of all American respondents said they would be willing to pay $5 or more a month for a gaming subscription that would offer them a “complete gaming experience”, which would include full access to games, levels and items in the game. This is a much smaller percentage compared to the 57% of Latinos who said they would pay for a subscription. However, in terms of gender, there was not as big of a gap. 54% of men vs. 46% of women said they would pay a subscription fee.

In regard to age group, it was found that gamers aged 25 to 29 were more likely to pay for mobile games than any other age group, with 49% in this age range claiming they would spend 5 or more dollars for a monthly subscription. As for those survey respondents who were self-proclaimed mobile gamers, 53% said they were likely to spend.

mobile gaming survey“Just as we seek to reveal emerging trends in mobile gaming monetization, we feel it’s essential to investigate behaviors that define heavy spenders,” PlayPhone CMO Anders Evju said. “It furthers our goals of maximizing value for our game developer and operator partners and enables us to continue to deliver an optimal social gaming experience,” Evju added.

Some people even confessed they’ve engaged in mobile gaming while behind the wheel.

In addition to investigating the spending habits of smartphone and tablet game players, the PlayPhone survey focused on other trends among gamers. For instance, they found that a surprising 17% of survey respondents admitted to playing mobile games while driving, on a frequent or occasional basis.

It was also discovered that 49% of all survey responders admitted to engaging in mobile gaming at work, while 68% said they sacrificed sleep regularly or on occasion on non-work nights to complete a game and 58% confessed they did this on work nights, too.

Mobile gaming market in China to surpass U.S. market

| May 14, 2014

New research estimates China’s mobile games market to make billions.

According to SuperData Research, the leading provider of digital games market intelligence, in 2014, the mobile games market in China is anticipated to break the $3 billion mark, which could result in the country becoming the leading market in the mobile gaming sector, bumping the U.S. out of the top spot.

The United States and China are the two largest players in the mobile games industry.

SuperData CEO Joost Van Dreunen said that while it is no surprise that these two countries are the biggest players in the market, “what is surprising is the rate at which China has caught up with especially large Western mobile game markets.” Dreunen has said that this is very exciting news for publishers, as the growth of the Chinese games market is not unlike the one the U.S. market experienced a few years back. The difference, however, is that China’s growth has greater potential for a larger audience.

The Super Data CEO stated that the United States gaming market is going through a transition. Instead of a game industry that has been physically retail-based, its focus is becoming much more digital. “Publishers must tailor their games to suit local markets,” Dreunen said. He added that “what works well in the US may not work well in China, and vice versa.” What is becoming more important in the games industry is process of localization, which has a direct impact on a game’s ability to convince players to buy.

SuperData’s 2014 Mobile Games Brief of China and the U.S., predicts that the global games market will exceed $20 billion by the end of the year.Mobile Gaming - China

The Chinese mobile gaming space is attracting investors.

According to Lisa Cosmas Hanson, the managing partner at research firm Niko Partners, the mobile games space in China is being embraced by investors. However, despite this fact, the recent report released by Niko Partners estimates that by 2018, the country’s PC online gaming market is likely to double.

Dreunen notes that like most Asian markets (with Japan being the exception), China does not have a very big market for physical retail games. Although it is probable that video game consoles will grow in popularity, as it is now legal to buy these devices, consoles like Xbox One are likely to face stiff competition in China where PC and mobile gaming remain dominant.