The Three New Features Of Mobile Gaming That Brands Must Take Into Account In Their Digital Strategies

Mobile-Gaming

Mobile gaming is proving to be the most prosperous segment of the video game industry. Its revenue continues to grow, and it is a sector that remains strong despite the many uncertainties that businesses face today. In terms of audience, mobile gaming has skyrocketed over the last two years.

In 2021 alone, according to Statista, there were approximately 2.7 billion gamers worldwide. And its revenue, according to Newzoo, reached $93.2 billion last year. AdColony has produced a document that analyzes the main new features in this sector and the different ways that brands can reach their target audience in this environment. Among them, the following stand out:

Mobile Games Are Coming To The Metaverse.

Games for mobile gamers in the Metaverse are estimated to achieve revenue of $3.1 billion this year. Among the main reasons for the rapid growth is the significant use of smartphones, especially during the restrictions caused by COVID, which has meant that users have been able to experience the functioning of the Metaverse. They have also become key tools for mobile gaming since their features allow users to be part of these new platforms and interact in real-time through their virtual avatars on them and attract more people to play on them. It is also important to point out the growing deployment of 5G and its large data highways so that high-performance smartphones and all their capabilities can circulate properly.

Along with this, it has also been seen as a key factor for this growth of mobile gaming in the Metaverse, the increase in play-to-learn games -those in which users play in order to earn money through different assets such as cryptocurrencies, tokens, or unique collectible crypto assets, better known as NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens.

In-App Advertising Will Continue To Be Key To User Retention.

Changes to Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) have changed the way you see ads in apps. This fact is causing a shift to the hybrid model for the monetization of apps. As well as for player retention, especially considering that, on the one hand, less than 5% of these make direct purchases from an app. And on the other, most of these are done in Hyper casual games, such as Pac-Man or Candy Crush. They are characterized by being simple, both in their design and development, because they are usually free and have a very good user retention rate, with figures above 30%.

At the same time, it is pointed out, according to the latest study carried out by AdColony on  Mobile Gaming in Spain, that the majority of gamers (78%) prefer to watch rewarded video ads to get advantages and progress in the game rather than pay money. And that users remember video ads better when they have seen them on their smartphone (51%) instead of on television (35%). However, 27% of users are willing to pay to continue enjoying the game. In addition, this environment allows multi-format advertising where, in addition to video, there are new formats such as native and audio.

Android Will Be A Priority.

For a long time, game developers have spent most of their time optimizing iOS devices. And as a consequence of this, the main characteristics of these, their playability, hardware operation…, were optimized for these devices. However, many developers will start to prioritize Android. They are especially considering the changing dynamics of getting a game distributed on iOS. And that increasingly, the aggregation of an audience has become significantly more difficult and more expensive than a year ago in them.

In line with the above, this growth of Android is directly related to the fact that developers prefer this ecosystem for socio-demographic reasons. And today, it is a ubiquitous operating system in developing countries, particularly in India, where Apple only has a mere 5% share of the smartphone market.