Mobile Game Spending Hits $1.5B a Week Despite 2% Revenue Decline

The mobile gaming industry experienced declines in revenue and downloads in 2023, marking the second straight year of falling numbers according to data.ai’s latest report.

However, there are positive signs that a turnaround could be ahead.

Global Revenue and Downloads Dip But Remain Strong

• Global mobile game revenue fell 2% to $107.3 billion in 2023, the second straight year of decline
• Downloads also dropped for the first time ever, down 2% to 88 billion
• However, the rate of decline has slowed compared to a 5% revenue drop in 2022
• Half of the top 10 markets saw positive revenue growth, including 21% growth in South Korea and 9% in the UK

Despite the revenue and download declines, mobile gaming still delivers staggering engagement:

• $1.5 billion in weekly consumer spending
• 1.1 billion weekly downloads
• 1.22 billion+ downloads per week in peak months like January and July

Standout Markets

The US remained the top spending market, generating nearly $25 billion in revenue, up 20x from 2013.

Top Countries in terms of spending:

iOS:

• United States 
• China 
• Japan 
• Taiwan
• South Korea

Android

• United States 
• South Korea
• Japan 
• Germany
• United Kingdom 

India topped download charts with a staggering 9.4 billion installs in 2023 from Play Store, more than double from second-place Brazil’s 4.3 billion.

Top Countries in terms of Downloads:

Play Store (Android):

• India – 9.4 billion
• Brazil – 4.3 billion
• Indonesia – 3.3 billion
• Russia – 2.4 billion
• US – 2.3 billion

 App Store (iOS)

• US – 2.1 billion 
• China – 1.2 billion
• Japan – 355 million
• UK – 337 million
• Vietnam – 307 million

However, despite the massive download figures, India does not rank in the top 20 markets for consumer spending.

In terms of in-game spending, 924 titles surpassed $10 million and 150 titles surpassed $100 million last year.

Seven titles even raked impressive $1 billion revenue through in-game spending.

• Gardenscapes
• Monopoly Go!
• Honkai: Star Rail

The Success of Chinese Publishers

• Chinese publishers accounted for nearly a quarter of total spending in Japan, highlighting their rising impact internationally.
• Along with the US, China made up over 50% of global mobile gaming revenue last year.
• New heavy hitters from publishers like miHoYo and Scopely could further boost China’s success abroad in 2024.

The Outlook

While 2023 failed to reclaim the peaks seen during lockdown periods earlier in the pandemic, data.ai strikes an optimistic tone about the industry’s future prospects.

If publishers target the right regions, plenty of growth opportunities remain.

The next couple of years will determine whether 2023 marked a stabilization or just a blip before returns to expansion.

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