Mobile game industry ASO trends report
The mobile game industry is flourishing in 2023, with several highly anticipated titles like Call of Duty Warzone Mobile, Honor of Kings, Valorant Mobile, and more. Major game developers are recognizing the potential of the mobile market, contributing to its growth.
General Trends
The mobile gaming industry thrives and is highly profitable, with many games generating over $100 million monthly. Games outperform other apps in revenue and downloads, emphasizing their importance in the mobile market. Just imagine that in Q1 2023, mobile gamers spent approximately $1.63 billion globally and downloaded nearly 1.2 billion games weekly. The United States, South Korea, and Japan led consumer spending among Android users. For iOS users, it is almost the same; it was the US, China, and Japan.
Google Play
What’s with downloads?
At the end of 2022, the top download categories on Google Play were Casual Games, Simulators, and Action Games, with RPGs and Strategy Games declining. Here is the Top 5:
- Casual
- Simulators
- Entertainment
- Action
- Tools
Casual games have become so popular that their number of downloads is more than two times bigger than the second number in this list. Regarding casual games’ popularity, Subway Surfer is still among the most popular games across almost all countries.
Downloads in countries
It’s not a surprise that the country with the highest population on planet Earth is Top 1 in the number of downloads among the countries. India consistently led in mobile game installations, and only Turkey and the Philippines have changed positions in the Top 10.
Revenue
The top revenue categories on Google Play in 2022 were RPGs, Strategies, and Puzzles. The Top 10 download categories and Top 10 revenue categories differ. If in download categories, it’s more like fifty-fifty between games and apps, revenue categories are primarily games. It shows that downloads do not always correlate with the profit indicator
iOS
Downloads
Categories leading in iOS game installations at the beginning of 2023 were Action, Arcade, and Simulation, surpassing RPG and Strategy. Changes in leading countries included Indonesia and Brazil, surpassing Japan and Great Britain. The top 5 iOS-installed games included Subway Surfers and Roblox.
Revenue
RPGs and Strategy games dominated iOS app profits. Even though they were surpassed by genres like Action, Arcade, and Simulation, this again proves that downloads matter, but revenue can be high even if we have fewer downloads.
The US consistently led in mobile gaming revenue, with Japan and Germany following closely. The big surprise came from South Korea, which doubled its revenue compared to last year.
Conclusion
Here is a brief report on the mobile game industry ASO trends. We hope it gave you some valuable information, and if you want a more detailed report, here is the link.
