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200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

The mobile game market is constantly changing. If you’re a mobile game developer, publisher, marketer, or investor, you need to keep up with mobile games market trends and understand where the mobile gaming industry is heading. It’s the only way to make informed decisions. To help you out, I’ve put together more than 200 mobile games statistics for 2023 and beyond.

You’ll get valuable insight into the current state of the mobile gaming industry and its future. We’ve also included mobile gaming revenue,  gamer statistics, mobile game monetization statistics, user acquisition, and the most important mobile game KPIs.

Use these mobile gaming statistics to get ahead of the competition and win.

Mobile Games Market Analysis: Statistics for 2023

Let’s start with a mobile game market overview including size, share, and mobile gaming revenue statistics.

What’s the Current State of the Mobile Gaming Market?

In 2022 and 2023, we’ve seen the mobile game market correction following the two years of growth that happened as a result of the lockdown. The global recession, IDFA changes, and a tumultuous period in the Chinese gaming market also influenced the global gaming market’s decline.

However, the decline following the lockdown was expected, which is why we’re optimistic about the future of the mobile gaming market despite the economic downturn. Moreover, even with the slight market decline, mobile is the most successful and profitable industry sector in 2023.

Explore more mobile gaming statistics below!

Mobile Games Market Size and Growth

Wondering how big is the mobile games market? Here are the most important statistics:

The global games market, including mobile and other platforms, generated more than $184 billion in revenue in 2022. That’s down -4.3% YoY. Game revenue is projected to grow to $211 billion by 2025. (Newzoo)

Mobile Game Market Size by Country

In North America, the gaming market went down -5.1% YoY to $48.4 billion in 2022, and in Europe, it declined -3.5% YoY to $32.9 billion. The Asia Pacific game market reached $87.9 billion in game revenue with a -5.6% YoY decline. (Newzoo)

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]
Mobile game market share statistics

Mobile Game Market Share: How Much Revenue is Attributed to Mobile Games?

Out of  $184 billion generated in 2022 by all types of games, the mobile game market share is 50% or $92 billion. In other words, 50% of gaming is mobile. Console games had a 28% revenue share, PC games 21%, and browser PC games only 1%. (Newzoo) In other words, mobile games have the biggest market share.

Mobile Game Revenue Statistics

Mobile game revenue in 2022 was $92 billion – down -6.4% YoY. (Newzoo) This tells us that the mobile gaming market has experienced a slight downturn following the pandemic years. But even though mobile gaming revenue is down when compared to previous years, this market is still very lucrative and offers many opportunities for game developers.

Delving deeper into mobile game revenue statistics, exactly 1,419 apps and games generated over $10 million in 2022. 224 surpassed $100 million and 10 went over $1 billion in revenue. (data.ai)

How Profitable Are Mobile Games?

Mobile games are highly profitable because they have the highest market share out of all games and boast almost $100 billion in mobile game revenue. However, to reach high mobile game revenues, developers must be smart about their monetization strategies. Currently, in-app purchases, in-app ads, and subscriptions are the most popular monetization models.

Mobile Game Market Size in Terms of Downloads

Despite the slight mobile game revenue declines, there was a surge in mobile game downloads. In 2022, mobile game downloads reached almost 90 billion, which is 6 billion more than in 2021. Hyper-casual games were the main driver of downloads. (Data.ai)

Mobile Game Market Growth

Statista predicts that the mobile games market size will grow to $419 billion by 2027. (Statista)

What Are the Biggest Mobile Games Market Trends?

One of the biggest mobile games market trends right now are hybrid casual games – a new genre that’s replacing classic hyper-casual games and is famous for good engagement and retention.

Liveops is another big mobile games market trend and has become the most important monetization feature.

Learn more about mobile games market trends here.

What Is the Leading Mobile Game Market?

The top three mobile game markets in 2022 by the number of downloads were China, India, and the US. (data.ai) The top three mobile game markets in 2022 by consumer spend were China, the US, and Japan. (data.ai)

What Is the Average Mobile Gaming Revenue Per User (ARPU)?

The average revenue per user (ARPU) for mobile games will reach $164 in 2023. (Statista)

What Are the Most Popular Mobile Game Genres?

Hyper-casual is the most popular mobile game genre in terms of downloads, while RPG is the most popular mobile game genre in terms of revenue, i.e. RPG is the most profitable genre.

Here are more detailed mobile games statistics about popular mobile game genres.

Data source: SensorTower and data.ai – mobile intelligence providers.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]
Mobile game revenue by genre

Mobile Game Revenue by Genre

According to SensorTower, these are the top mobile game genres worldwide by gross revenue. These mobile game revenue statistics by genre reveal the most profitable genres in mobile games.

  1. RPG ($20.2 billion)
  2. Strategy ($16.3 billion)
  3. Puzzle ($9.1 billion)
  4. Casino ($8 billion)
  5. Shooter ($4.6 billion)
  6. Simulation ($4.5 billion)
  7. Action ($4.5 billion)
  8. Sports ($2.7 billion)
  9. Arcade ($2.1 billion)
  10. Tabletop ($1.7 billion)

Interestingly two mid-core genres are leading in terms of mobile game revenue (RPG and strategy games). However, the casual genre (puzzle) is also high up – it’s third by mobile game revenue.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Mobile Games Statistics: Top Mobile Game Genres by IAP Spend

According to data.ai, these are the leading mobile game genres by consumer spend (in-app purchase spend) in the US.

  1. Casino ($4.5 billion in IAP spend)
  2. Match ($4.5 billion in IAP spend)
  3. Strategy ($4 billion in IAP spend)
  4. RPG ($3.7 billion in IAP spend)
  5. Simulation ($2.8 billion in IAP spend)
  6. Shooting ($1 billion in IAP spend)
  7. Tabletop ($744 million in IAP spend)
  8. Puzzle ($731 million in IAP spend)

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Top Mobile Game Genres by Downloads in the US

According to data.ai, these are the leading mobile game genres by downloads in the US.

  1. Hyper casual (1.6 billion in downloads)
  2. Simulation (617 million in downloads)
  3. Puzzle (375 million in downloads)
  4. Action (349 million in downloads)
  5. Match (240 million in downloads)
  6. Tabletop (218 million in downloads)
  7. Kids (212 million in downloads)
  8. RPG (166 million in downloads)

Top Breakout Mobile Game Subgenres

These statistics focus on subgenres that continue to grow despite global trends. Data source: data.ai

  • The top breakout mobile game subgenres by consumer spend are Puzzle – Word, Match – Merge, Party – Party Royale, RPG – Roguelike ARPG, and Simulation – Creative Sandbox.
  • If we look at downloads, the top breakout mobile game subgenres are RPG – MMORPG, Match – Match3, Match – Connect Tiles, Match – Merge, and RPG – Roguelike ARPG.
  • The top breakout mobile game subgenres by hour spent are Simulation – Creative Sandbox, Strategy – 4x Strategy, Match – Match3, Tabletop – Solitaire, and Puzzle – Word.
  • 200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

 

What are the Most Popular Mobile Games and Publishers?

We’re moving from top genres and subgenres to the most popular mobile games and publishers.

Our data source for these lists is AppMagic, a leading mobile intelligence provider. Get 3 days of free access to all AppMagic’s features, as well as 10% off, by clicking on this link.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

What Are the Most Downloaded Mobile Games in 2023?

Wondering what is the number 1 mobile game in the world? Check out this list of the most downloaded mobile games in 2023.

  1. Subway Surfers (278 million downloads)
  2. Stumble Guys (223 million downloads)
  3. Roblox (185 million downloads)
  4. Candy Crush Saga (165 million downloads)
  5. Ludo King (164 million downloads)
  6. Race Master 3D (133 million downloads)
  7. Bridge Race (133 million downloads)
  8. Free Fire Max (132 million downloads)
  9. My Talking Tom 2 (115 million downloads)
  10. 8 Ball Pool (115 million downloads)

What Is the Most Played Mobile Game in the World?

Subway Surfers is the most played mobile game in the world for several years now. It’s an arcade game that has millions of downloads and a dedicated audience.

Most Downloaded Games of All Time

The most downloaded games of all time on mobile are:

  1. Subway Surfers
  2. Candy Crush Saga
  3. Free Fire
  4. My Talking Tom
  5. Temple Run 2
  6. Hill Climb Racing
  7. Clash of Clans
  8. 8 Ball Pool
  9. My Talking Angela
  10. Temple Run

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Top Grossing Mobile Games

This is a list of top grossing mobile games (by estimated IAP revenue reduced by platform fees and taxes).

  1. Honor of Kings ($1.6 billion)
  2. Genshin Impact ($1.2 billion)
  3. PUBG Mobile ($1.1 billion)
  4. Candy Crush Saga ($1 billion)
  5. Roblox ($827 million)
  6. Coin Master ($770 million)
  7. Pokémon Go ($645 million)
  8. Monster Strike ($524 million)
  9. Dynasty Warriors ($504 million)
  10. Uma Musume Pretty Derby ($494 million)

Top Mobile Game Publishers by Downloads

These are the top mobile game publishers in 2022 by downloads.

  1. Azur Games (1.3 billion downloads)
  2. Supersonic Studios (1.1 billion downloads)
  3. SayGames (1 billion downloads)
  4. CrazyLabs (920 million downloads)
  5. VOODOO (840 million downloads)
  6. Outfit7 (830 million downloads)
  7. ABI Global (818 million downloads)
  8. BabyBus (777 million downloads)
  9. Lion Studios (754 million downloads)
  10. Rollic Games (727 million downloads)

Top Mobile Game Publishers by Revenue

This is a list of the top mobile game publishers in 2022 by revenue.

  1. Tencent ($4.8 billion)
  2. NetEase ($1.8 billion)
  3. Playrix ($1.5 billion)
  4. King ($1.4 billion)
  5. MiHoYo Games ($1.4 billion)
  6. Bandai Namco ($1 billion)
  7. Supercell ($1 billion)
  8. Zynga ($984 million)
  9. NCSOFT ($942 million)
  10. Moon Active ($840 million)

Top Mobile Games by Age Group

According to data.ai’s research, these are the top mobile games by MAU most likely to be played by different age groups. Overall, younger gamers are into shooting and simulation games, while older gamers prefer match3, casino, and puzzle games.

How Many Mobile Games Are There?

There are more than 700 thousand mobile games on Google Play and Apple’s App Store. New mobile games are published every day, which makes the mobile gaming market very competitive.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Mobile Game Monetization Statistics

We’ve already answered how much money do mobile games make. But the question is how mobile games make money.

The following mobile game monetization statistics shed some light on various methods like in-app purchases and in-app ads.

  • 74% of mobile gamers in the United States would watch a video advertisement if they got in-app content in return. (eMarketer)
  • 82% of mobile gamers say they are more into free mobile games that include ads than paid games with no ads. (eMarketer)
  • In-app purchases account for 95% of all user spend. (TechCrunch)
  • Players of hyper-casual games watch two times more ads than players of other mobile game genres. (VentureBeat)
  • Women are much more likely to make an in-app purchase than men. (Venturebeat)
  • More than 30% of female players will pay for a mobile game. (MediaKix)
  • User impressions per DAU are doubling every year. (data.ai)
  • In-app bidding is now the dominant form of managing ad monetization. It replaced traditional waterfalls. (data.ai)
  • Mobile game influencers affect users’ purchasing decisions by 21% more than non-gamer influencers. (Newzoo)

Global eCPM by Country

In this section, we bring you the eCPM report by country for rewarded, interstitial and banner ads on both Android and iOS.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Rewarded Video Ads (Android & iOS)

  • The United States is the country with the highest eCPMs for rewarded ads – $12.91 on Android and $13.18 on iOS.
  • eCPMs were slightly higher for iOS than Android rewarded ads. For the top 20 countries, eCPMs on Android range from $3.31 to $12.91, while on iOS, they range from $4.73 to $13.81.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Interstitial Ads (Android & iOS)

  • Five countries with the highest eCPMs for interstitial ads on both Android and iOS were the United States ($11.06 Android, $9.58 iOS), Canada ($8.64 Android, $7.21 iOS), Australia ($6.65 Android, $6.88 iOS), Denmark ($6.34 Android, $5.76 iOS), and Switzerland ($6.27 Android, $5.73 iOS).

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Banner Ads (Android & iOS)

  • The United States is the country with the highest eCPMs for banner ads on both Android ($0.60) and iOS ($0.27).
  • Across all countries, eCPMs for banner ads are higher on Android than on iOS.

Get more detailed eCPM statistics here.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Mobile Gamer Statistics for 2023

Here are some interesting mobile gamer statistics including size, demographics, interests, behavior, and player personas.

How Many Gamers Are There in the World?

If we look at the overall global gaming market, there are 3.2 billion gamers. The number of gamers in the world will grow to 3.5 billion by 2025. (Newzoo)

How Many People Play Mobile Games in 2023?

In 2023, there 2.2 billion active mobile gamers worldwide. (Newzoo)

Some mobile gamers are more active than others. For example, mobile gamers in Indonesia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and South Korea play mobile game the most – they surpassed 5 hours per day in mobile games in 2022. (data.ai)

Mobile Gaming Demographics

People of all ages play mobile games. 29.5% of mobile gamers are 25-34 years old and 28.3% are 16-24 years old. Slightly older generations are also into games – 23.1% of the mobile gaming audience are 35-44 years old, 12.8% are 45-54 years old, and 6.3% are 55 and older. (Zorka Agency)

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Percentage of Gamers by Platform

77% of Gen Z players, 73% of Millennials players, 54% of Gen X players, and 34% of Baby Boomer players play on mobile. (Newzoo)

What’s the Average Age of a Mobile Gamer?

The average age of a mobile gamer is 36. (MoPub) This shows us that not only the youngest generation play mobile games. In fact, people older than 35 make up almost half of the mobile gamer audience. (Mediakix)

What Gender Plays More Mobile Games?

Mobile games are almost equally popular with men and women. More specifically, 53.6% of the overall mobile game audience are men and 46.4% are women. (Zorka Agency)

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Mobile Gamer Statistics: Interests and Behavior

    • Gen Z and Millennials spend more time gaming than on any other form of entertainment. (Newzoo)
    • 85% of mobile gamers do not identify as gamers. (Mediakix)
    • On average, mobile gaming sessions last 25% longer for women than for men. (MoPub)
    • 43% of female gamers play more than five times a week. (MoPub)
    • 38% of male gamers play more than five times a week. (MoPub)
    • Users spend 90% of their smartphone usage on apps and games. (eMarketer)
    • On average, gamers play two to five mobile games a month. (data.ai)
    • Users spend three and a half hours using mobile devices every day, and 11% of that time is spent on mobile gaming. (eMarketer)
    • On average, hyper-casual mobile gamers download ten times more games than other players. (VentureBeat)
    • More than 50% of gamers play mobile games while in the bathroom. (Mediakix)

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Favorite Mobile Game Genres and Franchises by Generation

Here are more interesting statistics about generations and gaming.

  • According to Newzoo’s research, Gen Z players prefer battle royale, sandbox, and MOBA games. Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, and Among Us were their favorite franchises.
  • Millennials enjoy RPG, strategy, and adventure games, like Hearthstone, the most.
  • Gen Z players are mainly into puzzle, shooter, and sports games.
  • Baby Boomers are also into puzzles, as well as tabletop games and match games like Candy Crush Saga.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Share of Players’ Personas per Generations

  • According to Newzoo, 23% of Gen Z players and 20% of Millennials fall into the group of so-called Bargain Buyers. This type of player enjoys high-quality free-to-play games.
  • 38% of Gen X gamers and 66% of Baby Boomers identify with The Time Filler persona. These players play mobile games when they have some time to spare.

Why People Play Mobile Games?

Here are the main reasons why people play mobile games:

  • To relieve stress;
  • Pass the time;
  • To immerse themselves in another character or world;
  • To feel accomplished for completing something challenging;
  • Express something unique about themselves;
  • To connect with people they already know;
  • Be dazzled by something unique;
  • To connect with a subject they’re passionate about outside gaming.

(Data source: Facebook Gaming)

What Influences Players to Return After 30 Days?

  • Someone bringing up the game during an in-person conversation
  • Hearing about new content or available updates
  • Hearing about a reward for coming back
  • Seeing the game mentioned on social media by friends/family
  • Seeing news articles or blog posts about the game

(Data source: Facebook Gaming)

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

BONUS: How Youngest Generations Engage with Games

Wondering how the youngest generations interact with games? Here are the highlights from recent Newzoo research on Gen Z and Gen Alpha gamers.

  • Gen Z spends 17% of their free time playing games, while Gen Alpha spends the majority of their free time on games – 21%, making games the number one source of entertainment for this generation.
  • 90% of Gen Z and 94% of Gen Alpha gamers fall into the category of game enthusiasts, i.e., consumers who engage with gaming through playing, viewing, owning, and/or social behavior.

What’s the Most Popular Gaming Platform for Younger Players?

  • Mobile is by far the most popular platform for Gen Alpha and Gen Z gamers. 73% and 69% of them play games on their mobile phones.
  • On average, Gen Z gamers play for 6 hours and 10 minutes. Gen Alpha gamers spend even more time playing – 6 hours and 49 minutes.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Do Younger Generations Spend on Mobile Games?

  • Younger generations are more likely to spend on mobile games. 52% of Gen Alpha and 52% of Gen Z gamers are payers, while only 42% of the total gamer population are payers.
  • Newzoo’s research discovered that the number one reason for making an in-app purchase for both Gen Alpha and Gen Z is unlocking exclusive content. It’s followed by personalizing characters or items.
  • 93% of Gen Alpha and 91% of Gen Z have spent money on in-game purchases during the past 6 months.
  • Gen Alpha players spend the most on gear, playable characters, and in-game currencies. Gen Z players spend the most on in-game currencies, gear, and playable characters.

For more data, check out our article on Gen Alpha and Gen Z gamers.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Mobile Game Marketing Statistics

The following mobile games statistics are about marketing and advertising. They include highlights from the most recent SocialPeta research. Read the full SocialPeta marketing report here.

  • In 2022, there were over 37k active mobile game advertisers each quarter – that’s 17.5% more than in 2021.
  • There were more than 12 million quarterly mobile game ad creatives in 2022 – 15.9 less than in 2021.
  • The majority of mobile game advertisers (more than 90%) released new ad creatives each quarter in 2022.
  • Genres with the largest percentage of advertisers are casual (27.8%), puzzle (12%), simulation (9.2%), action (8.8%), RPG (6.3%), arcade (6%), strategy (4.4%), casino (4.3%), card (4.2%), and adventure (3.8%).
  • North America contributed the most monthly advertisers.
  • Genres with the largest percentage of ad creatives are casual (22.6%), puzzle (12.8%), RPG (11.3%), simulation (8.9%), strategy (8.7%), action (7%), casino (5.6%), card (5.4%), adventure (3.3%), and board (3%).
  • In 2022, there were more quarterly ad creatives on Android than on iOS.
  • More than 80% of all ad creatives for mobile games were videos. 14% were image ads, 2.36% were HTML ads, and 2.88% were other ad formats.
  • Video ad creatives had the highest impressions in 2022.
  • The game genre that had the highest impressions per creative was puzzle games.

Top Mobile Games by Advertising

In the images below, you can see the top 50 games by advertising on both Android and iOS.

Data source: SocialPeta

Top Games by Advertising on Android

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Top Games by Advertising on iOS

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Mobile Game Advertising Statistics by Genre

Here are essential advertising statistics for major genres – strategy, RPG, simulation, and casual.

Data source: SocialPeta

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Strategy Mobile Games Marketing Statistics

  • In 2022, the total downloads of strategy mobile games increased by 10.52% YoY. The estimated revenue declined by 9.48% YoY.
  • In 2022, there were over 4,500 strategy game advertisers.
  • The majority of strategy game advertisers came from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.
  • Africa had the most strategy game creatives.
  • The majority of strategy game advertisers are on iOS (52%), while 48% are on Android. However, there were more strategy game creatives on Android than on iOS – 62% vs. 38%.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

RPG Mobile Games Marketing Statistics

  • Annual RPG downloads went up by 4.76% in 2022. The annual revenue went down by 13.06% YoY.
  • In 2022, there were almost 5,000 role-playing game advertisers.
  • The top 3 most popular markets for RPGs were Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Japan.
  • Southeast Asia had the most RPG ad creatives in 2022.
  • Android had a slightly bigger share of RPG advertisers than iOS – 52% vs. 48%, as well as a bigger share of ad creatives – 51% vs. 49%.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Simulation Mobile Games Marketing Statistics

  • In 2022, simulation games saw an increase of 10.65% in downloads. The revenue for this genre declined by 16.67%.
  • In 2022 there were over 9,600 simulation game advertisers.
  • The majority of simulation game advertisers (54%) and creatives (55%) were on Android.
  • 200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Casual Mobile Games Marketing Statistics

  • Compared to 2021, casual games saw an 56% increase in downloads in 2022.
  • There were over 22,000 casual game advertisers in 2022.
  • South America had the highest share of casual game advertisers, while Africa had the highest share of casual game ad creatives.
  • The majority of casual game advertisers (74%) and creatives (78%) were on Android.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Global Mobile Ad Spend

Each year, mobile is taking over advertising share more and more. This was true for 2022 as well as for 2023 predictions.

Data source: data.ai

  • More specifically, in 2022, mobile ad spend reached $336 billion – a $41 billion increase compared to 2021.
  • By the end of 2023, mobile ad spend is predicted to grow by 7.5% and reach $362 billion, growing at an 18.5% 5-year CAGR.

Mobile Games Statistics: KPIs by Genre

In this section, we bring you mobile games statistics on the most important metrics across different gaming genres. The statistics include the following metrics: user retention, playtime, average session length, session count, and installs ratio.

Data source: GameAnalytics

The data is for the top 25%, median 50%, and bottom 25% of games in the casual, classic, and mid-core genres. Here’s how GameAnalytics categorized them.

Casual genre: action, adventure, arcade, casual, and puzzle games.

Classic genre: board, card, casino, trivia, and word games.

Mid-core genre: multiplayer, role-playing, simulation, strategy, racing, and sports games.

200+ Mobile Games Statistics: Market Report [2023]

Mobile Games Statistics: User Retention

Let’s start with the average user retention statistics for the past year.

Casual Genre

  • Average day 1 user retention for the top 25% of games in the casual genre in 2022 was 28%. For median games, it was 20%, and for the bottom 25%, it was 12%.
  • After day 7, the top 25% of games in the casual genre in 2022 retained an average of 6.7% of users. Median casual games retained 3.5%, and the bottom 25% retained around 1.4% on average.
  • Average day 28 retention for the top 25%, median 50%, and the bottom 25% of games in the casual genre in 2022 was 2.1%, 0.7%, and 0.02%, respectively.

Classic Genre

  • Average day 1 user retention in 2022 for the top 25% of games in the classic genre was 31%. For median games, it was 22%, and for the bottom 25% of games, it was 12%.
  • After day 7, the top 25% of games in the classic genre retained 11% of users on average. The median 50% of casual games retained 6%, and the bottom 25% retained just 2%.
  • Average day 28 retention for the top 25%, median 50%, and the bottom 25% of games in the classic genre in 2022 was 5.5%, 2%, and 0.2%.

Mid-Core Genre

  • Day 1 retention for the top 25% of mid-core games was 26% in 2022. For the median 50% of games, it was 18%, and for the bottom 25%, it was 11%.
  • After one week, the top 25% of games in the mid-core genre retained 5.4% of users on average. The median 50% of games in this category retained 2.7%, and the bottom 25% retained 1.2%.
  • Average day 28 retention for the top 25%, median 50%, and the bottom 25% games in 2020 was 1.6%, 0.6%, and 0.03%, respectively.

Mobile Games Statistics: Average Playtime

Playtime is the total time a user spends playing a game (combining all sessions) per day. Here’s how much users played casual, classic, and mid-core games in 2022.

 Casual Games

  • Top 25% of games – 28 minutes
  • Median 50% of games – 15 minutes
  • Bottom 25% of games – 9 minutes

Classic Games

  • Top 25% of games – 48 minutes
  • Median 50% of games – 31 minutes
  • Bottom 25% of games – 18 minutes

Mid-Core Games

  • Top 25% of games – 34 minutes
  • Median 50% of games – 17 minutes
  • Bottom 25% of games – 10 minutes

Mobile Gaming Statistics: Average Session Length

Below is the average session length for games in the casual, classic, and mid-core genres in 2022. (Average session length looks at how long users play a game, from starting to finishing a session).

Casual Games

  • Top 25% of games – 7 minutes
  • Median 50% of games – 4 minutes
  • Bottom 25% of games – 3 minutes

Classic Games

  • Top 25% of games – 10 minutes
  • Median 50% of games – 6 minutes
  • Bottom 25% of games – 4 minutes

Mid-Core Games

  • Top 25% of games – 8 minutes
  • Median 50% of games – 5 minutes
  • Bottom 25% of games – 3 minutes

Mobile Gaming Statistics: Session Count

Session count is the average number of sessions played per user on a given day. Here are the averages for the previous year (2022).

Casual Games

  • Top 25% of games – 5 average sessions per day
  • Median 50% of games – 3 average sessions per day
  • Bottom 25% of games – 2 average sessions per day

Classic Games

  • Top 25% of games – 6 average sessions per day
  • Median 50% of games – 4 average sessions per day
  • Bottom 25% games – 3 average sessions per day

Mid-Core Games

  • Top 25% of games – 4 average sessions per day
  • Median 50% of games – 3 average sessions per day
  • Bottom 25% of games – 2 average sessions per day

Mobile Gaming Statistics: Installs Ratio

The installs ratio is the percentage of daily active users who launched the game for the first time. Here are the averages for 2022.

Casual Games

  • Top 25% of games – 52%
  • Median 50% of games – 33%
  • Bottom 25% of games – 17%

Classic Games

  • Top 25% of games – 33%
  • Median 50% of games – 15%
  • Bottom 25% of games – 6%

Mid-Core Games

  • Top 25% of games – 57%
  • Median 50% of games – 39%
  • Bottom 25% of games – 21%

Mobile Games Statistics for 2023: A Summary

Judging by these mobile games statistics, it is evident that the mobile gamomg market experienced a slight decline in 2022 following the boom in 2020 and 2021.

However, this market correction was expected and we’re certain that the mobile gaming market will stabilize and continue to grow in 2023 and the years to come.

Game developers and marketers need to readjust their strategies to focus on improving user experiences and making their games as engaging as possible – it’s the key to successful monetization.

Furthermore, user acquisition strategies are constantly evolving and now is more important than ever to target the right audience with the right creatives.

Changes in Mobile Gaming Demographics

What’s particularly important to pay attention to are the ever-changing mobile gaming demographics. We can see that the idea of who a “gamer” is has shifted.

More and more women are getting into mobile games because the market started catering to their interests. We also know female mobile gamers are more likely to purchase games and in-app content. That is another huge opportunity for game developers and marketers.

Furthermore, mobile gamers tend to skew older, especially when it comes to women, which is another thing both developers and marketers need to keep in mind.

IDFA changes have significantly impacted the mobile game market, which will continue to ripple through 2023 as well.

In any case, it will be exciting to see how the mobile gaming market will change and evolve in the future – we’ll keep you posted. We update these mobile gaming statistics regularly.

Which mobile gaming statistics did you find the most surprising? Let me know in the comments below!

About Udonis

Udonis is an independent full-service mobile marketing agency that acquired more than 300,000,000 users for mobile games since 2018.Visit udonis.co

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Mobile Games

Mobile Marketing

Mobile Apps

Mobile Game Dissections

Monetization

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