2020 Mobile Gaming Statistics

• (February 2016, First Iteration) Based on 2 years of research by Khaled Shaalan
• (December 2016, Update) Included newly-found research by our team of analysts
• (July 2017, Update) Included demographic statistics based on the latest data from various sources
• (March 2018, Update) Updated with the latest info on how mobile gaming impacts children
• (November 2017, Update) Included detailed stats on the Chinese mobile market
• (September 2019, Update) Total revision of the page with new data gathered from 200+ hours of research

This article contains helpful information for app developers researching geographical markets to work on. Also, it is aimed at business owners that have an in-house or partner with IT staffing companies to build a remote team and are exploring game development as a new business. They may find the statistics beneficial for their strategy development or modification.

Mobile Gaming Statistics

Ever since the release of Tetris on the Hagenuk MT-2000, mobile games have developed and evolved drastically. We no longer have to squint at tiny screens in order to play games on-the-go. Instead, we now have access to larger, more powerful mobile devices that make for a much more enjoyable experience.

Owing to this, tablets and phones are now taking over the gaming market worldwide, accounting for up 34% of the global games market share in 2015. What’s more, such devices are expected to completely dominate the global video game market in 2020, with an increase of 17% from 2015.

Currently, digital games are accountable for 90% of revenues regarding the global business of games.

• Gamers: 2.2 billion
• Non-Gamers: 5.1 billion

Today in 2020, there are 2.3 billion mobile gamers worldwide—that’s almost a third of the world’s population!

We here at Game Gavel are committed to giving you the most authentic information possible, which is why we have collectively spent hundreds of hours gathering information from a range of trusted sources. With that said, let’s take a closer look at some other mind-blowing mobile gaming statistics.

There’s no denying that mobile devices are now more accessible than ever. After all, almost everyone has a mobile phone. So it’s no surprise that smartphones and smartwatches are predicted to take 34% of worldwide overall income in 2020. Despite this fact, according to mobile gaming statistics, around 85% of gamers do not identify as such. This is very surprising considering 30% of those gamers play games daily.

But when you think about it, I guess no one wants to admit they are a mobile gamer—PCMR FTW!

On the topic of PC gaming, 76% of users prefer playing games on mobile devices, whereas 62% prefer to play on PC or Mac. If you’re shocked to hear that, don’t worry, we were too. Below are some additional 2020 mobile gaming statistics:

• Smartphones and tablets took up 34% of the global of the worldwide games market shares in 2015
• In 2020, a large increase of around 17% is expected, compared to 2015
• As mobile gaming is so popular, 38% of game developers are creating games for smartphones and tablets
• 62% of people download a game onto their phone within a week of purchasing it
• Users spend over 43% of their smartphone time playing mobile games

With all of this in mind, it’s not surprising that 51% of the global games market comes from smartphones with the number being ever-rising.

Mobile Gaming Demographics

It’s clear that men tend to spend more hours gaming on PC or console. For example, in the US, 72.6% of men are playing video games, while the same is true for only 49.89% of women. So, when we discovered that most mobile gamers are men, we weren’t necessarily stunned.

Here are some more gender-specific stats:

Mobile Gaming for Children

What do parents tend to do when their child is crying? They give them their smartphone to play on. It’s terrible, but it works a treat. Sure enough, children’s’ free-to-play (F2P) mobile games were estimated to generate around 7.8% more revenue in 2017—a step up from the 317 million U.S. dollars in revenue made in 2016.

In 2017, 97.2% of male children were playing games on smartphones and other devices, while the same was true for 83.8% of girls.

In spite of this fact, it is estimated that 60% of children in the U.S. play games on a console.

Location Based Statistics

With a market volume of around $21,443 million in 2020, China continues to generate the most revenue when it comes to mobile games. Following China is the United States, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom who have a combined market volume of $19,474 million—$1,969 million less than China alone.

Mobile Gaming Revenue (China vs. US)

Mobile Gaming in Asia

In 2018, Newzoo predicted that around half of the 2018 global games spending would take place in the Asia-Pacific region—and they were right. Asia-Pacific currently makes up around 50% of the global games market. After China, India has the largest market in the total games downloaded from 2017 to 2020.

In 2020, it’s predicted that the Asia-Pacific region will produce a total game revenue of around $72.2 billion—47% of the total game revenue.

• There are currently around 544 million mobile gamers in China
• India took up 13% of mobile game session shares in 2017
• In Japan, revenue in the mobile games segment adds up to $6,455 million in 2020
• Asian mobile users spend around $12 billion yearly on mobile games

Mobile Gaming in the United States

Back in 2016, a massive 55.7% of people in the United States were playing mobile games. That number is expected to dramatically grow and reach 63.7% in 2020, a massive increase of 8%. In 2020, it’s expected that 77% of mobile users in the United States will be smartphone gamers.

The gamers in question are said to have currently played an average of around 1.3 games per day and 3.6 games monthly. But that isn’t all; below we have listed some more US mobile gaming statistics that may come as a surprise to you:

• In 2015, there were 164.9 million smartphone gamers in the United States
• Mobile gamers played around 1.3 games daily and 3.6 monthly in the United States alone
• 63% of children in the United States have played mobile games
• In the US, active mobile gaming among children is expected to exceed 60%

Mobile Gaming in the United Kingdom

According to multiple sources, the United Kingdom has the largest mobile games workforce in Europe, with approximately 5,000 full-time employees. Since the majority (47%) of smartphone owners in the UK use their phones to play games on, it only makes sense as to why the workforce is so large.

On average, these UK mobile gamers devote 4.8 hours per week to mobile gaming in 2015. Today, mobile gamers often spend around the same amount of time gaming on their smartphones per day.

• In 2020 UK revenue in the mobile gaming segment is around $1,435 million
• Revenue in the UK is expected to reach $1,591 million by 2023
• 71% of UK adults own a smartphone, while 59% of households own a tablet (2016)
• 44% of households in the UK own an iPhone, 46% own an Android phone and 12% a Windows phone

Some of these stats can be attributed to the fact that people don’t really consider themselves mobile gamers even though they actually are.

Mobile Gaming Stats by Genre

Aside from social media and shopping apps, 50% of mobile app users play games. But what type of games are these users playing? According to Shared2you, casual games are the most popular Android game apps worldwide, with 59% reach among Android mobile device users in September 2017.

Mobile Gaming Genre Growth Trends

• Casual: 59.6M
• Puzzle: 57.29M
• Arcade: 55.6M
• Actions: 34.75M
• Racing: 31.31M
• Strategy: 15.79M
• Adventure: 15.51M
• Card: 15.44M
• Board: 14.09M
• Simulation: 13.72M
• Word: 13.52M
• Casino: 10.53M
• Educational: 8.89M
• RPG: 8.26M
• Trivia: 7.91M
• Arcade & Action: 3.46M
• Brain & Puzzle: 1.81M
• Family: 0.95M
• Sports: 0.59M

Additionally, puzzle games were recorded as the next most popular Android game app, with 57.29% reach among Android mobile device users in September 2017. Since 2017, there’s a 34% increase in revenue from puzzle games, with $3.8 billion. Arcade games account for $1.9 billion and have a 95% increase between 2017 and 2018.

• In July 2016, arcade games had 63.1 million downloads and therefore they are recognized as the most number of mobile game downloads in the United States
• In July 2016, action games come in at second place among the most number of mobile game downloads (61.5 million) in the United States
• Puzzle, board games, card games, and game shows are among the most popular mobile games that are often played by gamers in the U.S.
• Arcade games had the most monthly active users (MAU) in July of 2016, reaching 80.7 million, followed by puzzle and adventure games with an MAU count of 54.5 million 69.8 million individually
• The global revenue of brain and strategy mobile games is expected to grow by around 49% in 2022 from the $6.7 million revenue made in 2016

Not shockingly, the worldwide revenue of action and adventure mobile games is expected to grow by around 46% in 2023 from the $5.6 million in revenue made in 2016.

Mobile Gaming vs. Other Platforms

The great thing about smartphones is that thanks to unlimited data plans, you can game on-the-go. The thing is, PC and console games tend to be much better than the ones available on mobile devices.

As such, 39% of consumers of consoles said that they would most definitely play mobile versions of PlayStation 4 games if they were made available. While 35.5% of Xbox One consumers said they would likely play mobile versions of games on Xbox if they were made available.

Mobile Gaming Seller Stats

According to a report by Statista, 22% of gamers in the United States purchased video games through the digital video game platform, Steam. This makes sense considering Steam is one of the most popular video game distribution platforms going.

Simultaneously, many gamers prefer to purchase digital copies to put on display, which is why 43% of gamers in the United States said they purchased games on online retailers like Amazon and eBay.

Highest Selling Video Game Stores (US)

A whopping 56% of gamers in the U.S. purchased video games through the App Store and Google Play Store.

Mobile Gaming: Android Statistics

Regardless of what Apple fanboys say, Android is the world’s largest operating system going. Sure enough, 78% of the players across the globe belong to the android game markets. Ever since 2016, Android has the larger part of the marketing share. Surprisingly, Android sales are rising in the United States, Europe, India, and Japan, but not in China.

In fact, China is the only place in the world where Android’s sales are declining.

• 21% of the Android apps downloaded are mobile games
• In 2010, Android had less than 5% of the market share globally
• As of 2018, 30% of the U.S. market belongs to Samsung—making it Android’s biggest partner
• As of 2018, Samsung is the leader of Android’s band with 30% of the market in the United States
• Android had 88% of the global market share in 2016
• In 2017, the Android market share fell down to 74%
• Subway Surfers was the first game to get over a billion downloads in the Google Play Store
• As of September 2017, 6.96% of Android games use paid apps as a mobile gaming monetization method

As of March 2018, Texas Holdem Poker has the most number of fans with a whopping 65.35 million fans making it the most popular mobile game on Facebook. It’s a funny stat with some possible correlation to the consideration of how most of the online gambling is performed from mobile devices.

Finally, it’s intriguing that since September 2017, 70.7% of Android gaming applications contain adverts and therefore it is the most popular method of mobile gaming app monetization used by mobile apps across the globe.

Mobile Gaming: iPhone Statistics

Even though Android is the world’s largest operating system, Apple device users tend to spend far more money on in-app purchases. As of May 2016, iOS device owners spent an average of $10.96 on in-app gaming purchases monthly, compared to 5.53 U.S. dollars spent by Android device owners. With that said, 11.4% of iOS gaming apps contain in-app purchases and use it as a mobile gaming app monetization method as of September 2017.

When it comes to in-game ads, 59% of iOS top-grossing games contain in-app ads as of August 2016. While 41% of iOS top-grossing games don’t contain ads.

• 25% of iOS apps downloaded are mobile games
• The mobile version of Fortnite has generated over $455 million in revenue
• When Fortnite Mobile was released back in 2018, 28% of iOS Fortnite gamers were female
• Netflix is currently sitting on the throne among the list of iOS applications & games topping both the downloads and revenue charts
• Pandora Music takes the #2 place looking at the list of iOS games and apps with the most revenue and downloads
• YouTube sits at third place among the list of iOS apps and games with the most revenue and downloads

In 2017, the App Store had a gross mobile games revenue of $8 billion compared to Google Play’s $4.5 billion gross by mobile games in the same quarter and year.

Mobile Gaming Revenues

The fact that Fortnite is the top-grossing iPhone mobile gaming app in the U.S. as of April 2018 should come as no surprise. The mobile version of the popular battle royale game has since generated a daily revenue of 1.92 million U.S dollars. That’s 32% more daily revenue than Candy Crush Saga as of April 2018.

In 2017—a year before Fortnite mobile was announced for Android and iOS—the market value of mobile gaming content over the globe is $59.8 billion and is projected to reach a whopping $74.4 billion this year (2020).

Certain advancements such as higher-quality graphics and unlimited data plans make for more engaging gameplay, which is why more people are starting to game on their smartphones. In 2020, the number of smartphone gamers in the United States is set to grow by 9% from the 2017 record of 192.2 million mobile phone gamers.

The success of mobile gaming means that the industry will continue to increase revenue.

• The United States is one of the top countries for smartphone game session stocks, taking up almost 20% of the total market; following the U.S comes India with 13% shares
• The number of gamers preferring mobile phone in the US is presumed to grow by nine percent in 2020 from 2017’s record of 192.2 million mobile game lovers
• Mobile gaming proceeds reached an enormous 16.6 billion euros in 2017 and is estimated to create 26.3% more in 2021
• In the United States, 72.3% of mobile users are mobile phone gamers
• Tablet gaming revenue will presumably increase by 42.3% more in 2021. That’s a gigantic move up from the 6 billion sold in 2017
• In 2020, the revenue of game-applications is said to increase by 44% from the 41.5 billion U.S. dollar revenue in 2016
• In 2016, 8.9% of the mobile download and in-app revenues in 2016 was covered by video downloads
• In 2016, smartphone gamers in the United States who played Game of War – Fire Age (MMO Strategy) spent an average of $335 on in-game purchases.
• Mobile gamers in the United States who enjoyed the Mobile Strike game spent around about $310 on microtransactions (average per player)
• In the United States, mobile games were estimated to generate the most revenue in the digital games industry, making up 39.9% of global shares
• After China, the United States is the second-largest gaming market with $25.426 billion in revenue
• Asia was a leader in the mobile gaming market with a revenue of 41.5 billion U.S. dollars
• 2.4 billion gamers around the world spent 137.9 billion U.S. dollars on games

Freemium/Paid Mobile Game Stats

We can probably all agree that we would rather deal with adverts than pay for a mobile game. According to Statista, only 21% of U.S. gamers who own tablets and smartphones have 1 to 2 paid games on their devices. Since around 92% of the games available on Google Play are free to download games, it’s no wonder 79% of gamers don’t have paid apps on their smartphones.

Another interesting fact is that demographics are a huge part impacting the statistics when it comes to paying for in-app merchandise.

However, many free games are actually freemium titles since they tend to be more profitable, but why? The below freemium and paid mobile game statistics may answer that very question.

The game which is averaging the highest among gamers in the U.S. which spend money on in-game purchases is Game of War – Fire Age. Personally, I was surprised with this info as I know of games more popular. Still, GoW: FA is the champ with an average of 336 U.S. dollars spent annually.

Mobile Gaming Marketing and Developers

As there are thousands of active game companies submitting hundreds of mobile games to the App Store every single day, competition is extremely high. As of Fall 2017, it’s said that 73.1% of game devs view competition as the biggest threat to their mobile games business. In the same year, 47.5% of game developers view rising marketing costs as one of the main threats to the mobile game industry.

The rising UA costs as of Fall 2017 is also recognized as one of the largest threats to their mobile games business according to 63.2% of game developers worldwide.

Of course, the most prominent developers are getting most of the revenue from digital display ads. As of 2016, Facebook’s apps (not only Facebook but also Instagram, for example) are getting 44.32% of digital display ad revenue. Google and Alibaba are taking up the second and third sport, with 17.59% and 10.11% of the market share, respectively. Only in fourth place, we have a developer that is strictly working on mobile games. It’s Tencent, which gets 6.27% of revenue from digital display advertisements.

By 2022, Tencent is predicted to climb the rankings most fiercely, with an estimated revenue share of 12.69%. However, it’s not possible to say whether they will overtake both Google and Alibaba.

While the growing audiences offer mobile gaming advertisers with huge opportunities, reaching those users is another story. Many gaming brands are even turning to influencer marketing to drive downloads, which in turn, will raise brand awareness. So, how are the leading video game publishers that specialize in the mobile games market doing today?

• With 4.9 million downloads in January of 2018, Voodoo surpassed all of the other publishers in the iPad gaming app with the most downloads
• With 4.35 million downloads, Ketchapp made its way to second place worldwide regarding mobile gaming downloads on iPad
• In January 2020, Ketchapp had 24.07 million downloads, making it the leading iPhone gaming app publisher globally
• Ketchapp had an estimate of around 20k more downloads than Voodoo had in January 2018, winning the title as the leading iPhone gaming app publisher worldwide
• As of January 2018, King was the top publisher globally claiming a stunning revenue of $41.52m
• In January 2018, King made 48% more profit in comparison to Tencent Mobile Games
• By making a global revenue of $87.56 million in January 2018, King made its way as the top mobile gaming app publisher in Google’s Play Store with the most revenue
• By generating $236.57 million worth of revenue in January 2018, Tencent Mobile Games was the highest-earning publisher when it comes to iPhone games; also, the one with the largest earnings globally
• After it generated $99.98 million back in January 2018, NetEase Games took second place among the leading iPhone gaming app publishers with the most revenue globally
• Taking the runner-up spot among the top application publishers in January 2018 with the most revenue is Supercell. Following Supercell is BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc, claiming a huge $338.94 million in revenue
• In 2018, ELECTRONIC ARTS (EA) was the most popular publisher with the highest number of downloads (25.02m)
• In January 2018, Outfit7 managed to make its way to second place in the top-earning mobile game developers in Google’s Play Store with 24.31 million downloads worldwide

In the end, in-app mobile advertising covered 30% of the worldwide in-app advertising and app store revenues of mobile games and applications.

Costs of Developing a Mobile Game

Have you ever wondered how much it costs to create a mobile game? As 92% of games on the Google Play Store are free-to-play, it’s no wonder gamers are curious as to the total cost of developing a mobile application.

Minimum/Maximum Cost of Developing a Mobile Game
(Based on Game Size)

According to multiple reports, it’s estimated that there will be around 2.4 billion mobile gamers globally by the end of 2020 and so the number of mobile games will inevitably continue to rise. For this reason, competition is high, which is why developers are forced to create the best game possible. To help you understand how much it costs to create a mobile app, we here at Game Gavel have conveniently broken down the costs of developing a mobile game in 2020.

• An engaging plot and character will require an experienced game planner who can charge between $100 to $150 an hour while professional writers charge even more
• The design and development phase of a mobile game requires game artists, architectures as well as UI and UX designers. Depending on their experience, these gaming professionals would charge between $150 and $250 per hour
• Mini games can cost from $20,000 for a simple game and $50,000 for a complex game with additional features while casual 2D titles games could cost around $50,000 to $100,000
• Mid-level games such as Angry Birds may cost anywhere between $250,000 to $700,000 to develop, possibly even less depending on additional features and updates
• As they require careful planning and design, high-level Games require a huge budget of around $400,000 to a whopping $1,000,000 to develop
• Business game applications require an expert mobile application development company and therefore business game apps usually cost around $250,000 to $550,000

As you can see, the most popular publishers are the most successful ones but there are some less-known underdogs clawing their way up the ladder.

Mobile App Promotion and Ads

Reports show that 29% of game developers view app store promotion as the most significant when it comes to expanding their game audience. As we tend to spend our time looking down at our smartphones, 2.9% of game developers view traditional display ads as the least important method for growing their game audience.

Still, the stats don’t lie as we can see below:

Mobile Gaming in China

If you’re familiar with China’s demanding and quickly-developing economy, you’ll understand why China has become the largest video game market in the world.

As a matter of fact, China now covers a whopping 41% of the video gaming market revenue globally, which is why they are ranked first on the list of countries by revenue ever since October 2017. Rising from 25% to 41% overall profits since 2017, we can only imagine how the industry will continue to develop.

Mobile Gaming x eSports Impact

During the same year, the majority of the highest-earning eSports players were Chinese. Consequently, China has adopted the third-largest share amidst the leading eSports market with the largest sales revenue, covering 17% of the shares.

In the latest report published by CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center), it was shown that 829 million Chinese citizens are using the internet, while 817 million are using mobile phones. That’s an impressive 98%.

Back in 2017, I interviewed more than 1000 students, 650 working people (25 to 60 years old), and 260 mobile users older than 60 based in China. The research was simple yet specific and it spanned over 3 months during my time in Asia.

The interviewees were asked a simple question, whether they are using their mobile devices to watch eSport streams. Here are the results:

• 74.8% of mobile users aged 14-25 watch eSports using their mobile devices
• 48% of mobile users in China aged 25-60 enjoy eSports via mobile phones (data leaning heavily towards younger participants)
• 0.38% of people aged 60 or older are watching eSports on their mobile device (that’s one person if you do the math!)

Considering the popularity of gaming in China, it’s no wonder that predictions using our research data are showing a potential $1.49 billion dollars of eSports revenue in 2020.

But what are mobile gamers in China playing?

Before we get into specifics, let’s first take a look at China’s video gaming industry regulations and how it may affect revenue.

Video Gaming Industry Regulations in China

After the Chinese government announced the formation of its Online Ethics Review Committee, both Fortnite and PUBG were found to be violating the new rules. Both titles were then banned entirely in China—including PUBG mobile—as they evidently served as a distraction for younger players.

Since 2017, PUBGs Chinese publisher, Tencent, had to change aspects of the game to suit the government’s guidelines—which meant no extreme violence. Albeit, in 2020, Tencent were forced to pull back the title and replace it with Game for Peace. 

Even though PUBG can’t gain approval in the largest gaming market in the world, before the ban, 52% of mid-core PC gamers in China were playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. As PUBG mobile has generated millions of dollars in revenue, could the ban be the reason why 2018 was a fairly slow year for China’s gaming market? Let’s take a closer look at the mobile gaming market in China.

Approval and Player Count

Considering the video gaming industry in China is massive, it’s inevitably the highest-grossing and most profitable gaming market in the world. According to Mintegral, a mere 20.5% of online games were approved in China compared to 2017. By the end of the year, only 23.3% of mobile games in China got approval.

Despite the increase in regulations, according to NewZoo, the Chinese games market has reached $37.96 billion—$23 billion of which is from mobile games. The number of mobile gamers in China is also expected to grow from 558 million in 2017 to around 700 million by the end of 2021. Currently, there are approximately 645 million mobile gamers in China alone.

Chinese Mobile Gaming Market Revenue

Despite recent challenges, the Chinese gaming market has reached $23 billion in revenue from mobile games alone, but how has that number changed over the years? Or, more importantly, how will that number look in the coming years. Last year (2018), China’s mobile games market accounted for over 25% of global revenue, making them the largest video game market in the world followed by the United States and Japan. Revenue is set to reach around $25.5 billion by 2023.

China Mobile Gaming Revenue
(2017-2020 Expected)

Popular Mobile Gaming Genres in China

Just like every other mobile gamer across the globe, Chinese mobile gamers have a preference over a specific type of genre. Similar to other countries, one of the most popular mobile gaming genres are casual games, followed by RPGs, Car Racing Games, Sports, and Chess and Poker. According to iResearch, casual mobile games generated around $3.82 billion in 2017—that’s around 17% of the Chinese global gaming market. Turn-based RPGs are also said to be the most popular games across both Android and iOS.

Until quite recently, most games developed for mobile had a very heavy focus towards male audiences with action and shooting genres. That was until a trending mobile game known as Love and Producer was released—a game developed by an 80% female gaming development team. Within its first month of development, Love and Producer received 7 million players, most of which are said to be female.

Top Grossing Mobile Games in China

Keeping up with the App Store and Google Play Store every single month can be a tricky task. Especially considering hundreds, if not thousands of iOS and Android games are released per day. Thankfully, each and every month, Newzoo and TalkingData publish the Top 20 Android Mobile Games in China and the Top iOS Games and Apps. Today, we will simply focus on the top 10 Android mobile games in China by MAU (monthly average users).

Top 5 Grossing Android Games in China

Time Spent Mobile Gaming in China

Just like most people in the world, Chinese mobile gamers love to spend a lot of time on their mobile phones, but how much time do these people spend gaming? According to QuestMobile, Chinese mobile gamers are said to spend an average of around 4.7 hours on their smartphones for entertainment purposes alone.

That’s a 0.6-hour increase from 2018. Of course, this number also includes music streaming, video streaming, live streaming, e-reading, and other mobile services.

Demographics of Mobile Gamers in China

So, who’s playing these popular mobile games? Or, more specifically, who’s mobile gaming in general?

This could certainly be due to the fact that in the year of 2018, developers created games aimed specifically towards female mobile gamers. No longer did ‘male-focused’ shooters and action games dominate the Apple and Android app stores. As a matter of fact, the female mobile gaming market is growing even stronger, with over 150 million women between 15 and 30 playing mobile games.

Final Words

To this day, millions of people across the globe turn on their mobile devices to challenge themselves or their friends. While the mobile gaming industry is still fairly young, the success of the industry is second to none.

In today’s world, smartphones boast faster processing speeds, higher-quality graphics, and larger screens—so it’s no wonder smartphones and tablets are taking over the global games market. The growing success of the industry is also attracting new audiences, old and young, which is why the market value of the global mobile content is in the billions.

Sources:

1. Newzoo Global Gaming Market Report, Newzoo
2. Mobile Game Statistics, Statista