Mobile gaming now accounts for more than half of global gaming revenue


Currently, the number of people who are smartphone users is at 3.3 billion. It is estimated that more than 3.8 billion people will own a smartphone by 2020. This is why it just makes sense to think that more people will get into mobile gaming by the year 2020.

The global gaming market had revenues of over $130 billion US dollars in 2018. By 2021, experts predict that it should already earn over $180 billion US dollars. App Annie also reported that 78% of the global gaming revenue came from mobile gaming in 2018.

In the US alone, the gaming population is already over 200 million with a yearly growth of 3 percent. By 2020, US gamers are expected to rise to more than 213 million people. However, it’s not really the US that has the biggest gaming market.

China is one of the countries that love mobile gaming. They have over 450 million gamers. You could say that they also spend a lot on mobile gaming as they make up 25 percent of the global gaming revenue.

Gaming on smartphones or handheld devices already reached a revenue of over $70 billion US dollars last year. Mobile gaming is simply growing at a rapid pace and this is mainly thanks to the development of technologies.

Games that you can play on your mobile devices are already way better than what you can play on them a few years ago. Think of how far it has come from when you used to play Snake on your analog phone. This is why gamers worldwide are keener to making in-app purchases. They just see this as something worth the money.

A research conducted by the BI team from Iron Source found that mobile gaming was found to grow rapidly because of the rise of hyper-casual games. These games simply had a nurturing effect on gamers and this is what warms them up to have IAP based titles.

The speed and quality of games that people can download on either the App Store or Google Playstore are just better. Who would have thought that games like PUBG, NBA Live and FIFA Soccer can be compatible with a small handheld device?

With the internet, gamers can also experience playing real-time or live mobile games. These are big and obsessive that even guides to mobile live games are available for download on app stores for both Apple and Android devices. People are simply going crazy over these games.

This simply makes gaming a lot more convenient for many gamers out there. They can play the games they love almost anywhere. It also helps that the game developers hear them out after rating their app use and gaming experience.

The overall mobile gaming experience is just expected to get better with the rollout of 5G connection. More edge-cutting games are expected from different game developers and this is simply something that gamers are really looking forward to.

Many also believe that mobile gaming is solely the future of gaming in general. The rollout of 5G can aid technological advancements. These advancements include the use of AR and VR experiences. While this is already a thing, people can just expect that it will get better.

Another factor that helps the growth of mobile gaming is live streaming. Online platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and even Facebook are now full of people who would stream the games they are playing. This makes them reach a lot of people worldwide and this could serve as a motivation for more people to play mobile games.

Currently, popularly streamed games are Fortnite, PUBG, and Critical Ops. On Twitch alone, there was a record of a streamer who played Fortnite and had over 50,000 viewers for just one game. The rise of game streaming is basically the rise of marketing for mobile games.

What could also help the mobile gaming industry become big is the fact that smartphone manufacturers are making more phone units that are specifically made for gaming. Brands like Samsung, Huawei, and Xiao Mi recently showcased phones that can last long even after a few hours of gaming.

What’s even better is that game-focused phones are now made. The Razer Phone supports a 120 Hz display and has a RAM that most laptops have in the market today. ASUS is also doing the same with their ASUS ROG that can support gaming peripherals with its two type C USB gaming ports. Xiao Mi has their Black Shark gaming phone with 10 GB of RAM and attachable controllers.

With these, the gaming mobile industry is only set to grow. It’s already impossible to think that this industry will be gone in the near future. It has become quite a staple to many, especially to the ones who have mobile devices.