65 statistics from the world of mobile games to impress friends

We love mobile phone games, and we also really appreciate the numbers. But when we search the web for statistics on trends in the development of mobile games, we quickly realize that in general there is no single place where all this stuff was collected. So here it is, a bunch of statistics on the mobile gaming industry that will make you very popular at the next gaming conference, or cocktail party, when some skeptic asks you ...

“Do people really spend so much time on video games?” Yes, we really spend it.

(Translator's note: the author often repeats, we will forgive him)


(Note to the photo: we never look above)

State of the industry

• In the US, more than 100 million mobile players (almost 1/3 of the country's population) [6]
• 80% of developers do not earn enough money for their own business [2]
• 34% of the top 100 cash register apps on the App store use the freemium model [1]
• The mobile gaming industry is expected to reach $ 54 billion by 2015. [7]
• 90% of in-game spending in the US comes from the Free-to-Play model [1]
• Over 80% of all mobile development profits in 2012 were games [4]
• Top 25 developers received half of all profits in 2012 [3]
• At $ 12 billion, the market was estimated in 2011 [1]
• Mobile games - the most popular application category [1]
• 64% of mobile players play every day [1]
• 93% of users who paid for the application paid for the game application [1]
• 70-80% of all mobile downloads are games [7]
• 76 out of 100 box office iOS apps - games [4]
• $ 3 - the average price that players consider acceptable for an in-game purchase, or paid gain in the game [8]
• The expansion of the gaming industry of smartphones is expected to double by 2016 [1]
• In October 2012, nine of the top 10 monthly revenue publishers for iOS and Google Play were game publishers [10]
• In 2011, mobile games received 9% of all money spent on games, estimated at $ 5.8 billion [5]
• Cross-platform players monetize 25% better than players on the same platform [8]
• 51% of the top 25 box office games on the App Store are free [7]
• 58% of popular developers create cross-platform applications [8]
• VentureBeat announces an increase of 241% since 2008 in the field of online games [9]

Why do we play

• 57% of US social gamers enjoy social games because of the "competitive spirit", and 43% because of "fun and excitement" [1]
• The time spent playing games on tablets exceeds the total time spent on video, music and reading magazines [4]
• 60% of tablet owners play games - almost as much as standard user behavior, such as reading news, mail, etc. [4]
• 1/2 of the Internet population (510 million people worldwide) play social games - an increase of 71% since 2010 (as of the end of 2011) [5]
• Almost 30% of players made in-game purchases, or upgraded the application to the full version [8]

Who we are

• The average age of a mobile player is 28.2 years [7] (Translator's note: I always thought this figure should be between 5 and 15)
• The average age of a social games player is 39 years [1]
• 54% of social players are men, 46% are obviously women [1]
• 2/3 mobile players under 45 [8]
• Mobile players make up 22% of all players in the US [4]
• 87% of guys use devices to play games, and only 80% of girls [4]
• 25% of adults learn about a new game through social media [1]
• 50% of mobile players learn about a new game through friends or family [1]

When we play

• The largest percentage of mobile players play in the bedroom [4]
• 52% play more than an hour a day [4]
• 53% of smartphone owners play games daily [4]
• 66% of tablet owners play games daily4
• In 2011, mobile games accounted for 13% of all time spent on games worldwide, which is more than 130 million hours per day [5]
• 67% of the total time spent on the tablet was spent on games [4]
• 81 million people play social games at least once a day. 49 million play several times a day - an average of 9.5 hours of social games per week [1]
• People spend an average of 7.8 hours a month playing games on their phones [1]
• Android users spend an average of 9.3 hours per month on games [1]
• Games account for 67% of the time spent on the tablet, versus 39% for smartphones [8]

How do we play

• 69% of US mobile players play games on a smartphone, 21% on a tablet, 18% on iPod Touch [5]
• 59% of the total gameplay is played on mobile [5]
• 51% of mobile players spend money on purchasing games, the majority (37%) upgrade trials to full versions [5]
• The average player on the smartphone installed more than 10 games in 2011. The average player on the tablet installed more than 20 games in the same 2011 [5]
• 84% of tablet owners play games [7]

What are we playing

• 10 million active users per month play social games like “Hidden Objects” [1]
• 13.24 million active users per month play social games one way or another related to the Casino [1]
• 2.5 million monthly active users play social RPGs [1]
• Over 100 million play on social networks - 61% on Facebook [1]
• On virtual goods alone, freemium games earn on one user $ 12.92 [6]
• 23% of tablet players pay for virtual goods, spending $ 62 on average [8]

Special games

• Tiny Tower made $ 3 million on in-game purchases in its first year alone [6]
• Angry Birds earns $ 6 million per month purely on advertising [6]
• Zynga games attract 48 million users per day [6]
• Within 50 days, Draw Something was downloaded 50 million times [6]
• Draw Something users draw 3000 drawings per second [6]
• Zynga’s mobile gaming division has earned them more than $ 10 billion. [6]
• Rovio's revenue was $ 10 million in 2010, but in 2011 already $ 100 million [6]
• Rovio receives $ 6 million per month purely on advertising [6]
• Angry Birds together have 700 million horse racing [6]
• Approximately 500 billion birds were launched at Angry Birds. [6]

Sources:

1. Socialnomics - “Social Gaming Infographic: 81 Million Play Each Day + More Stats”
2. iMore - “59% of iPhone and iPad app developers don't break even on costs”
3. Gameindustry.biz - “Top 25 US mobile devs take in half of app revenue ”
4. Wired -“ Mobile Kills the Console But Advances the Gaming Industry ”
5. Infodocket -“ New Statistics: Online Gaming: Number of US Mobile Gamers Jumps 35% to 100 Million ”
6. iQU - “Mobile Game Stats You Need To Know: Infographic”
7. DigitalBuzz - “Infographic: Mobile Gaming Statistics 2011”
8. FactBrowser - “Mobile Game Fact Feed”
9. VentureBeat - “Study: US gaming population has nearly tripled in three years ”
10. AppAnnie - “App Annie Index November 2012: Japan Overtakes US For Google Play Revenues”