Users spent $9 billion on apps in 2012

Newzoo summed up the results of 2012. According to them, in total, smartphone and tablet users spent $9 billion in 2012. This is 32% more than a year earlier.

The number of mobile players in the world has reached 500 million. 175 million of them are paying. 

Games accounted for 33% of all downloads in 2012. At the same time, games are responsible for 66% of the mobile market revenue. Interestingly, men are much more likely to be paying players than women. And this is despite the fact that the gaming audience in Western countries is 50% male, 50% female. 

Five years ago, users played on two screens: in front of a PC monitor and in front of a TV screen. Since then, the number of screens has doubled. And the players distribute their budget between them (computer – 50%, entertainment – 29%, personal devices – 7%, family devices – 14%). 

A large number of screens, as well as the inefficiency of promotion when using only one of them, forces gaming companies to increase advertising budgets and spray them on as many platforms as possible in the hope of attracting users.

Newzoo in its report notes that users liked the idea of spending money only after familiarizing themselves with the product. Given the growth of revenues in the f2p sphere, analysts do not rule out that it will soon affect consoles. 

Using the example of Kindoms of Camelot, you can see that revenues from an f2p game can grow even if its downloads fall. In relation to paid applications, this, of course, cannot be. 

Beta testing, the company’s analysts write, is one of the most important stages in development today. The logic is as follows: the more a player spends in the game, the more he spends on it. Accordingly, developers and publishers are primarily interested in ensuring that users are involved in the game for as long as possible. In turn, this requires unprecedented polishing. The longer and more thorough it goes, the more players there will be, and the longer they will return to the game.

Plus, we do not forget that game services (namely, they are f2p projects) require a special balance. Monetization should not confuse users, but at the same time it needs content in which “whales” will be interested. 

Nezoo experts also note that jargon, “overloaded with terminology and misinterpreted phrases about the decline of traditional sales,” harms the industry. Investment by non-industry companies decreased by 50% compared to 2011.