Here is the types of mobile games!
Although today we have a wide range of mobile games to choose from, it is true that there are more popular genres than others. Still, same genres do not dominate all devices. There are many factors that influence this aspect, such as the type of device, the dimensions of the screen, the way of interacting with the game, the internet connection and, ultimately, the user experience.
The Battle Royal PUBG, the mobile version of the popular video game, ranked as the best of the year and was also the most voted in the first time that the app store included a ‘Fan Favorite’ category.
While action and sports video games predominate on consoles or PC, on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, other genres are played more. Next, let’s see what they are:
Mobile Game Categories
Mobile gaming market has lots of different genres that can target any taste. And here’s all the mobile game categories:
- Action
- Adventure
- Arcade
- Battle Royale
- Casual
- Card
- Role-Playing
- MOBA – Multiplayer Online Battle Arena
- Puzzle
- Racing
- Strategy
- Sports
- Trivia
- Word
New genres and new tastes develop everyday, and it’s impossible to list every niche category. After all, it’s a $49 billion worth market! Now, let’s look at the most popular mobile games categories in detail:
Action Games
Although, as we have already commented before, this is the modality of games that predominates in the consoles and PC games sector; in the mobile sector they only represent 11% of the market share. This is because the dynamics of the game requires that you can enjoy a greater user experience, something difficult to achieve on small screens.
The subgenres of action games include:
- Platform games (primarily about jumping and climbing)
- Shooter games (using weapons to participate in action)
- Fighting games (close ranged combat games)
- Beat ’em up games (similar to fighting games but instead of one-on-one fights, they are against large amount of people)
- Stealth game (sneaking around without enemy noticing you)
- Survival games (start with minimal resources and collect resources to survive)
- Battle Royale (survival game with one-man standing attitude)
- Rhythm games (music themed action games)
Casual Games
This category is the one that dominates the market for games for mobile devices. With 58% mobile device penetration rate, casual games are the most played game genre by Android users.
Mobile gaming is the rising star of gaming industry, and casual games are the rising star of mobile gaming. Speaking of mobile gaming, did you know its share of total gaming revenue worldwide is forecasted to grow from 18 percent in 2012 to almost 60 percent by 2021?
This genre includes everything from games like Candy Crush to the most famous games of chance in their free versions, such as slots or free bingo. Most bingo and online casino platforms have noticed this trend and all of them already have their application so that we can bet with our smartphones.
Puzzle Games
Mobile game preferences change accourding to countries, for example in UK, the most prefered gaming app genre is puzzle (62.7%). Just 1% more than casual games (61.6), but still, puzzle games win!
This genre of games is the second most played on mobile devices over the world, with more than 30% of total downloads. They are games in which our brain participates a lot, since in most of them we must think of a strategy to meet the objectives. Within this genre the most popular board games are included, such as Parcheesi, Dominoes, Scrabble; as well as card games, puzzles and numbers.
According to industry sources, here are the top 10 mobile games worldwide from 2019:
- Free Fire (Sea)
- PUBG Mobile (Tencent)
- Subway Surfers (Kiloo)
- Color Bump 3D (Good Job Games)
- Fun Race 3D (Good Job Games)
- Run Race 3D (Good Job Games)
- My Talking Tom 2 (Outfit7)
- Homescapes (Playrix)
- Stack Ball (Azur Interactive Games)
- Call of Duty: Mobile (Activision)
Important Statistics About Mobile Games
Like we said before, mobile game is the rising star of gaming industry. And here’s mobile game market 2020 statistics to prove it!
Mobile gaming share over total gaming revenue worldwide was 54% last year and is expected to grow on the following years. Mobile gaming’s share is forecasted to be 57% in 2020 and 59% in 2021. Mobile game market will be even better in 2020 and in the following years!
Now, let’s talk about mobile game market size. In 2019, the gaming market worldwide was worth $152 billion. And it is expected to reach $165 billion in 2020. The biggest part of gaming industry, mobile games generated $49 billion in revenue and a profit of $16.9 billion in 2019. The mobile gaming market is forecast to grow 2.9% annually and hit $56.6 billion by 2024.
The numbers of mobile gamer is also increasing. In 2020 the number of global mobile gamers will be more than 2.4 billion. 2.7 billion by 2021! Mobile game players in United States make up 209 million of them, and in 2020 this number is expected to be more than 213 million. And 620 million of them are in China, making China the biggest mobile gamer market.
The market of China can be shown in revenue distribution as well. With $18 billion in revenue, China was the biggest market for mobile games in 2019. Followed by the US at $9.9 billion making US mobile game market size big enough to be the seccond biggest mobile gaming market. And Japan the third, at $6.5 billion in revenue.
Lastly, let’s talk about the demographics of mobile gamers. The biggest age group is 25-34 (30%) followed by 35-44 (24%) and 45-54 (20%). And when we look at the most popular mobile game genres, AR gamers tend to be younger (more than half are under the age of 35) and players of puzzle genres are older and female. So, mobile games target market is not just one or two groups but actually comprises of all ages, genders and focuses. Every mobile game developer and advertiser have to find its own target market and work hard to reach them. Because it seems that mobile gaming market is growing, increasing competition everyday.
Click here to read “Top Mobile Game Publishers List”