Tag: mobile game apps

Mobile games represent 31% of all app downloads worldwide

| November 5, 2013

Mobile games continue to show impressive growth

Mobile games are beginning to play a larger role in the lives of people around the world. Mobile analytics firm Distimo and mobile commerce firm MEF have released a new report concerning the trends that have emerged worldwide concerning the use of mobile application. The report shows that mobile games have come to represent a significant percentage of all application downloads. These games also make up the majority of the revenue that the applications sector is responsible for.

Games account for majority of app revenue

According to the report, mobile games represent 31% of all application downloads around the world. While this may seem like a small share of the given market, these games also represent 71% of the total revenue of Apple’s App Store and 89% of the revenue of Google Play. Many mobile games are free to play, but include in-game purchases that allow users to spend money to unlock additional content. Much of the revenue that these games produce come from these purchases.

Mobile Games - AppsFreemium model proves lucrative for developers and publishers

Approximately 7% of the revenue that mobile games are responsible for comes from actually purchasing a game. The so called “freemium” model, whereby games can be acquired for free but additional features must be purchased through small transactions, is the most lucrative model for mobile developers currently. Mobile games have come to represent one of the most lucrative sectors for the game industry as a whole and a growing number of prominent developers and publishers are beginning to take the mobile space more seriously as a result.

Mobile games likely to continue gaining momentum around the world

Mobile games are expected to continue seeing strong growth throughout the world, especially as these games begin making their way to emerging markets in Africa and Asia. China is currently home to one of the most robust mobile gaming markets in the world, with thousands of games being produced on a daily basis throughout the country.

Mobile games reach new heights in China

| April 15, 2013

China mobile gamesChina Mobile sees major progress in mobile games

Mobile games continue to generate a great deal f attention in China. This week, China Mobile, one of the country’s largest  telecommunications companies, announced that 25% of the applications downloaded from its Mobile Market app store were games. Moreover, these mobile games account for the vast majority of the revenue generated from all of the applications found on the company’s Mobile Market. This makes the mobile games sector the most lucrative sector in the mobile space, at least in China.

Majority of revenue in app market comes from games

According to China Mobile, mobile games represent 87.5% of total revenue earned by the Mobile Market. These games are rampantly popular among Chinese consumers, many of whom use them for entertainment purposes or, quite simply, to pass the time. China Mobile notes that the number of people willing to pay for mobile games is significantly higher than those willing to pay for games on other platforms. Up to 30% of mobile consumers, for instance, have paid or are willing to pay for mobile games of some kind, whereas 1-2% of consumers are willing to pay for PC games.

In-app purchases are becoming more common

China Mobile also notes that consumers are willing to have the fees tied to their mobile games included in their regular phone bill, with approximately 70% of mobile gamers favoring this practice. In-app purchases have also become the stable of the mobile games sector in China, with 90% of all games in the Mobile Market offering some form of in-app purchase. China Mobile expects that in-app purchases will eventually replace the pay-to-download model that has long dominated the applications market, leading most, if not all, mobile games to be free.

China sees economic growth in games

Mobile games have become a strong force in the Chinese economy. For several years, China’s game industry has been somewhat isolated, largely restricted to the borders of its native country. Despite this, the industry has become very affluent in the economy by providing consumers with countless hours of entertainment.