Mobile Gaming Is on the Rise

Gaming on the whole has surged in popularity in recent years, with bigger budgets and more grand productions coming to consoles than ever before. We’re seeing near on Hollywood-level spending when it comes to creating electronic entertainment. Now, some of this is being directed to new devices and it’s the turn of mobile gaming.

Mobile gaming has brought high quality gaming to larger audiences who perhaps aren’t the type to own the leading game consoles such as Nintendo or X-Box. What’s more, mobile gaming is also more functional when it comes to convenience and even comfort. Mobile gaming serves as a superb way to deal with the morning commute which millions labour through every day. But in fact, figures show that a large percentage of mobile gaming happens between 8pm and 12pm with millennials tucking up in bed and alternating between mobile gaming and social media.

Let’s face it, being tucked up in bed with a handheld screen versus having to battle your family for control of the TV wins every time. It’s a Millennial/Generation Z no brainer.

What’s more, global smartphone penetration is now in excess of 40%, meaning that mobile gaming creators are looking at substantial enough audiences to really start ploughing big bucks in to creating fully immersive gaming experiences. We’re a long, long way away from the Candy Crush era now.

In 2019, global mobile gaming revenue is projected to be $68.5 billion, growing 10.2% from 2018. You might also be shocked to learn that mobile gamers already significantly outweigh PC gamers at 2.53 billion for mobile versus just 1 billion for PC. As we’ve suggested this is majorly down to accessibility.

PC gaming may be a huge market, but it requires certain know how, a costly set up in terms of hardware and the games in general are considerably more expensive than those for mobile. PC gaming also requires a significant amount of space for your set up, in essence you need a dedicated gaming area and even then, in order to use it, you need to be home in the first place.

Mobile gaming is particularly popular in Asian markets and a prime example would be Vietnam. A recent study in Vietnam also revealed that mobile gamers are 70% more likely to purchase retail items online via their mobile phone vs non gamers. This should prompt brands to consider gamers as a more valuable target market.