Data and analysis platform data.ai (formerly App Annie) announced the ‘2022 Mobile Game Status’ on March 22.
According to the report, mobile gamers worldwide downloaded 83 billion mobile games in 2021 alone, spending $116 billion, an unprecedented record. This means that 157,000 mobile games were downloaded every minute, and $220,000 (about 270 million won) was spent on mobile games.
In 2021, the number of mobile game downloads worldwide reached 83 billion, a 4% increase over the previous year (80 billion). Compared to the 18% growth rate recorded with an increase of 12 billion cases between 2019 (68 billion cases) and 2020, 2021 appears to have entered a relatively modest growth period, out of the period of rapid growth promoted by the pandemic.
On the other hand, global mobile game consumer spending in 2021 will reach $116 billion, a 15% increase over the previous year ($100.5 billion), similar to the growth rate of consumer spending in 2020 (17%, $85.8 billion → $100.5 billion). kept Consumer spend on mobile games in 2021 accounted for 68% of total app store revenue of $170 billion.
Meanwhile, in 2021, the number of downloads of mobile games in Korea recorded 580 million, and consumer spending recorded 5.78 billion dollars (about 7 trillion won). Unlike the global figures that have set annual records since 2018 in both categories, the number of mobile game downloads in Korea in 2021 recorded a negative growth of 6% compared to the previous year (620 million).
According to data.ai data, the number of downloads in Korea has been on a downward trend since 2018. According to data.ai, the number of cases increased by 50 million in 2020, when strong distancing and quarantine guidelines were implemented in the aftermath of the pandemic, and recorded an increase of 8%, but recorded negative growth again the following year, completing a gradual decline. Through this, it can be seen that mobile gamers in Korea prefer to enjoy the previously downloaded game as it is rather than to download a new game.
Consumer spending on mobile games in Korea in 2021 was $5.78 billion (about KRW 7 trillion), a 15% growth rate compared to the previous year ($5.04 billion), drawing a parallel with global mobile game consumer spending. Contrary to the number of game downloads in Korea, consumer spending showed steady growth from 2018 ($3.8 billion) to 2021 when the effects of the pandemic subsided. It accounted for a whopping 87% and it can be seen that it acted as a major factor driving the growth of the app economy.
Compared to the fact that mobile games contributed 68% of global app store sales in 2021, it can be seen that the app economy in Korea is highly dependent on mobile games.
According to data.ai data, the genre with the most activity among mobile game downloads worldwide in 2021 was by far ‘hyper-casual’. The hyper-casual game genre, which nearly doubled in 2019 with 15 billion downloads, accounted for about 33% of mobile game downloads in 2021.
It seems to have driven the number of highly accessible downloads of the genre, which can be enjoyed for free and simple operation. In particular, among the hyper-casual genres, the sub-genres that showed the strongest strength were action, puzzle, simulation, and io. In 2021, the downloads of these four genres recorded 13 billion, accounting for 16% of the total number of mobile game downloads.
On the other hand, a high number of downloads did not directly lead to high profitability. Strategy and RPG genres accounted for the largest share of global mobile game consumer spending in 2021. While most of the revenue generation in the hyper-casual genre comes from advertising, RPGs and strategy games, which require deep immersion and a lot of time for gamers, have become a hobby and seem to drive consumer spending.
Of these, the 4X March-Battle Strategy genre, which led to the largest consumer spend, recorded a whopping $9.7 billion in consumer spending in 2021, an increase of about $2 billion from the previous year.
In the mobile market in Korea, the RPG genre was strong in downloads and consumer spending. It is noteworthy that five hyper-casual genres in the major game genre charts by download have settled down, surpassing the RPG genre, but it is noteworthy that hyper-casual games did not settle in the top 10 in the top game charts by download. On the other hand, in the RPG genre game, there are a whopping 8 out of the top 10 such as ‘Cookie Run: Kingdom’ at 1st place, ‘The Second Country’ at 2nd place, ‘One Punch Man: The Strongest Man at 4th place’, and ‘Blue Archive’ at 5th place. and topped the charts.
In consumer spending in Korea, two RPG genres, MMORPG and team battle, overtook the 4X March-Battle Strategy genre to take first and second places, and five RPG genres were included in the top 10 major game genre charts. The genre also showed a great presence in the top game charts.
‘Odin: Valhalla Rising,’ and ‘Lineage W’ of the MMORPG genre took the 1st and 2nd places in the mobile game category in the consumer spending category in Korea, followed by ‘Cookie Run: Kingdom’ at 3rd place, and ‘Second country’ at 4th place. ,’ followed by ‘Genshin’ in 5th place, and a whopping 8 RPG genre games in the top 10 have settled down.
David Kim, head of data.ai Asia, said, “As mobile games can provide graphic quality and play experience close to console games, the global mobile game market is breaking new records every year. As mobile games have recorded more than $100 million in sales, it is important to continue exploring new opportunities through various attempts to continue this growth momentum.”
Meanwhile, more details can be found in data.ai’s ‘2022 Mobile Game Status’ report.
