Category: Mobile Gaming

WorldPay has revealed its latest data in a whitepaper that showed that paying using smartphones is favored.

According to the latest research findings from online and mobile payments and risk services provider, WorldPay, consumers around the world are using their smartphones as an alternative method of paying with credit cards on an increasing basis when it comes to buying video games.

The whitepaper revealed that gamers like the opportunity to use their gadgets instead of plastic cards.

The whitepaper was entitled “Video Games Payment Preferences” and it included the data regarding the outcome of the survey responses from 7,554 gamers who have purchased a video game online. It asked them about the frustrations that they experienced throughout this process, as well as about their interest in alternative methods of paying, such as the use of mobile payments. Among the respondents, 51 percent were using those alternatives, when compared to 46 percent who were still using debit and credit cards for buying these products.

It should be noted that mobile payments were one category of the alternative payments in the WorldPay survey.

Aside from mobile payments, other methods that were included in the alternative category were real money based e-wallets, credits and points based systems, direct transfers and direct debits, mobile phone carrier billing, and cash vouchers.

The study also determined that the highest amount of use for alternative and mobile payments was from consumers residing within emerging marketplaces. It determined that 71 percent of gamers in Russia were using alternatives, while the same could be said of 79 percent of the consumers in China.

WorldPay explained that e-wallets have been a considerable driving force behind the increase in the use of alternative and mobile payments. Among all overall transactions, this category made up 27 percent of the total. This was true regardless of whether gamers were purchasing new games, or expansions or modifications to existing video games. Although this may represent only just slightly over one quarter of all of the transaction types in terms of volume, the company pointed out that this should still be taken very seriously as it is also an extremely rapidly growing category.

Chinese mobile games market sees impressive growth

ResearchInChina, a market research firm focused on the Chinese market, has released a new report highlighting the growth of the mobile gaming industry in China. The report shows that mobile games have experienced tremendous growth throughout the country in 2012 and 2013. This growth is expected to carry well into 2016, especially as new opportunities emerge and small development studios are acquired by their larger counterparts. Growth in the mobile gaming sector is also expected to be enhanced by the increasing availability of smartphones and tablets.

Report highlights the growth of a prominent sector

According to the report, development of mobile games began gaining significant momentum in China during the last quarter of 2012. By early 2013, the mobile games market reached 135% year-on-year growth. Consumers have expressed a great deal of interest in mobile games, favoring their convenience and simplistic nature. While many mobile games are available for free or at a low price, in-game purchases have helped these games become very lucrative for their developers.

Mergers and acquisitions are becoming common in mobile games sector

The massive growth of the mobile gaming market has meant a major increase in revenue for many developers. Large companies have been making enough money to acquire smaller studios. Mergers have become very common in the mobile games sectors as several small studios look to establish a formidable presence in the market. The success of mobile games has also encouraged companies that do not traditional engage in gaming to try their hand at developing new kinds of games for consumers.

Increasing availability of technology exposes more consumers to gaming

Mobile games are expected to continue growing in popularity for the foreseeable future. China has become one of the most attractive markets for these games, partly due to the rapid adoption of mobile technology. As smartphones and tablets become more available, more consumers are being exposed to mobile games and other forms of entertainment. These consumers have shown a penchant for playing many kinds of mobile games and are enthusiastic when new titles are released.