This article is part of an ongoing series of data-driven articles from PocketGamer.biz and data.ai (formerly App Annie) highlighting trends in the global mobile gaming sector using data.ai’s Game IQ analysis.
Data.ai and Deconstructor Of Fun’s new Mobile Gaming 2022 and Beyond: Defying Economic Headwinds report provides an in-depth look at the global mobile gaming market and a breakdown of key consumer habits and genres. In the second article based on the report, we examine the number of games and potential for resounding success in 2022.
From outside the mobile games market, it can be easy to look at the massive number of apps and games and assume that there is a huge, never-ending tide of releases crowding the major app stores and for smaller developers make unsustainable. The reality is a little different.
Looking at the data, it’s clear that the number of games released has been steadily declining year-on-year since 2016. The number of games actually available on the App Store has decreased significantly over the same period.
Since peaking in 2016, when over 300,000 games were released on an app store that had almost doubled that number (594,000), the number of games and new releases has fallen. Since 2019, the total number of games on the App Store has remained below 300,000, while the number of new releases has stayed in double digits since 2018, with 2022 marking the lowest number of releases yet with just 57,000 released.
Over the same period, the number of games exceeding $10 million in consumer spending worldwide has grown steadily.
Of 515 titles that broke $10 million in 2016, 925 titles did the same in 2021.
The impact of these games varies from market to market, but the US example shows that there are still clear opportunities for new games and newcomers in the mobile gaming space. In 2022, 63 percent of total mobile revenue was generated by the top 100 games. While that’s a slight 1 percent increase from last year, it shows that there’s still significant revenue to be earned outside of the biggest games for other developers and creators.
This is also reflected in the number of games that made it into the top 100. Overall, more games reached the magic $10 million mark in 2022, faster than in previous years. As the report notes, “Titles with larger-than-average launch budgets and strong IPs to support increased spending helped boost this metric.”
25 new games will make the top 100 in 2021, compared to 19 in 2020. 34 percent of the games in the top 100 were there in 2017, down 4 percent. In terms of time commitment, the average in 2021 was four months, compared to the average of seven months in the first half of 2020.
While the ongoing consolidation is undoubtedly changing the face of the mobile market, the data shows that there is still work to be done heading into 2023 – even from smaller developers and new titles.
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Find that analysis and more in data.ai and Deconstructor of Fun’s new interactive report, Mobile Gaming 2022 and Beyond: Defying Economic Headwinds. Along with major economic trends, the report details the performance of the leading game genres, with the market leaders and strategies for the rapidly evolving market. Download your copy here.
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If you enjoy data.ai’s insights, you can listen to the company’s new Game Changers podcast, which takes a deep dive into various aspects of the global mobile games market.
