MOBILE IS BECOMING THE WORLD'S PREFERRED FORM OF GAMING

Across all platforms, mobile gaming is now the principal driver of worldwide consumption of digital games, and is set to further extend its global lead about 3.1 times, assured Gabrielle Bikker, Marketing Insights Manager at App Annie, during the company’s “The Gaming Spotlight 2021” webinar.

According to Bikker, worldwide consumer spending on games will hit US$210 billion this year, a number that, in 2014, was just above US$20 billion, demonstrating the exponential growth of the segment. Meanwhile, consumer spending on PC/Mac games is expected to reach $41 billion during 2021, almost the same as on home consoles ($39 billion).

Regarding regions, comparing the first quarter of 2020 versus the first one of 2021, the Americas and Europe saw the biggest growth in mobile games spending. However, the rest of the world also saw great growth, and the Marketing Insights Manager at App Annie particularly highlighted Saudi Arabia and Turkey as two markets in which mobile games are increasingly taking center stage.

“One year into the pandemic, demand for mobile gaming continues strong and with no signs of slowing down,”  the specialist said. In fact, from the fourth quarter of 2019 - just before the pandemic started - until the first quarter of this year, the percentage of average weekly game downloads grew by 30%. The same happened in terms of consumer spent, which grew 40% during that period.