App Annie: they spend more on mobile games in total than on PC and console games

Users spend more on mobile games than on PC and console games; spending on console games is falling; the largest audience of PC players in the United States is those over 45 – App Annie shared this and much more with IDC.

The annual report of two analytical companies was released just yesterday, March 29. There are not so many big discoveries in it. But he focuses on those things that are often forgotten today.

For example, the fact that user spending on mobile games is more than on similar applications on other platforms. Or the fact that most of the money of the mobile market today is concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region.

But about everything in order.

Mobile has overtaken PC in terms of expenses

According to the report, in total, users spent the most money in the world last year on mobile games (this situation was fair already by the end of 2014). Even more than PC games (both digital and physical copies). But at least their expenses for the latter are growing. But spending on console games (both home and portable) is falling.

Overall, spending on mobile games in 2015 increased by 40% compared to spending in 2014.

Now many are talking about a drop in dynamics. However, App Annie assures that this is not the case. In 2014, expenses increased by 35%.

Games collect more than any other mobile apps

It’s no secret that games are responsible for 80% of the money that users left in the App Store and Google Play last year.

Another thing is important: they accounted for only 38% of the total number of downloads in the reporting period. This suggests that developers of other applications still do not know how to monetize their users as effectively as game authors do.

Games account for about 85% of Google Play users’ spending. The same value in the App Store is 75%. Despite this, the iOS platform still generates significantly more money than the main Android market.

The main market is the Asia-Pacific region

Most of all, residents of the Asia-Pacific region invest in games for mobile and portable devices, as well as for PCs (this usually includes Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and others). The main regions for home consoles are North America and Western Europe.

Therefore, the aggressive expansion of Chinese, Korean and Japanese companies into Western markets is quite understandable. What is important, we are often talking about a completely successful expansion. Just look, for example, at the Russian box office Google Play top (slightly lower for last month).

The problem is that, with rare exceptions, Western companies have not been able to gain a foothold with their products in the Asian market. In other words, the most profitable mobile market remains closed to Western players.

By the way, as App Annie also notes, one of the main trends of 2015 was a significant increase in user spending on iOS applications in the Asia-Pacific region.

Based on devices – portable consoles generate the most

Based on one device (we divide the total costs by the number of devices), users of portable game consoles spend the most on games. This is quite expected, since their install base is relatively modest (the number of games coming out, by the way, too).

According to App Annie, it’s too early to talk about the stagnation of the portable console market. Within the framework of 2013-2015, this market sank minimally.

If we continue the topic about income, based on the calculation of one device, then the main laggard here is mobile platforms. But the mobile audience is the most numerous in terms of the number of players. In addition, it includes not only hardcore, but also casual players who, if there were no mobile devices, might not be players at all.

Based on one device, consoles bring in five times more money than mobile devices.

PC players in the USA – audience over 45+

Also in her research, App Annie segmented the American audience of gamers by gender and age.

Men and women are equally among mobile and PC gamers in the USA. Slightly more women are interested in portable consoles — 53% — than men. As for consoles, men still dominate here. 59% of the audience is behind them.

With age segmentation, everything is a little more interesting. The main gaming audience on mobile, console and portable platforms are people from 25 to 44 years old. PC gaming is mainly enjoyed by those who are over 45 years old.

American users spend the most hours a week at home and portable consoles — somewhere on average 10 hours. PC users spend slightly less (but the spread within the group itself is quite wide, there are many who play no more than 5 hours, but there are enough of those who spend more than 20 hours on games).

But mobile games (researchers were able to collect data only on Android devices) account for a little less than 3 hours a week.

A source: appannie.com